Florida Baseball Welcomes Miami To Renew Rivalry

The No. 8 and undefeated Florida baseball team faces its first test of the season this weekend against heated rival Miami at Condron Family Ballpark.

The Florida and Miami rivalry in baseball dates back to 1950. While Miami (8-1) leads the all-time series 135-134-1, the Gators (9-0) have won nine of the last 10 series overall and six of the last eight series in Gainesville, where UF owns a 79-51-1 mark.

Under coach Kevin O’Sullivan, the Gators are 41-8 overall and 21-9 in Gainesville against Miami.

“It’s always a great series,” O’Sullivan said. “They got three really outstanding starters.

“I think it’s really good for both schools to play the third weekend. We’ve got nine games under our belt and we’ll see how we do against a really good opponent.”

Last year in Coral Gables, the Gators took the series 2-1.

Midweek Preparations

Both teams won midweek appearances.

Florida won 6-1 on Tuesday at Stetson and 7-6 against visiting North Florida on Wednesday. Key plays from Tuesday’s game include Miami transfer Blake Cyr’s first home run as a Gator. Cade Kurland also cranked a three-run homer in the game.

Stetson announced Thursday that its controversial safety-bag protest was denied by the NCAA. As a result, the Gator win stands. The 15-minute stall occurred after Stetson’s Salvador Alvarez beat out a hit off Florida pitcher Aidan King to drive in the tying run. O’Sullivan challenged the call as he saw Alvarez’s foot touch the white side of first base, the side that’s owned by the infield. The play was overturned and the Hatters were kept at one run for the rest of the game, but under protest.

The Wednesday night game was a close one for the Gators, clinching the win on a walk-off wild pitch. Brody Donay hit his fifth homer of the season to bringing in three runs. Florida rotated through seven pitchers, three of whom made their collegiate debuts. Jackson Barberi also made his collegiate starting debut.

Barberi strands 'em 🤢#GoGators // 📺 https://t.co/DCeXOBcg1m pic.twitter.com/ejEr0eEKRx

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) February 27, 2025

Miami dominated 14-6 against Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday. The Hurricanes scored 10 runs in the first four innings. However, the Miami defense started giving up runs during innings six through eight. The starting pitcher Reese Lumpkin made his debut and struck out nine batters.

The Hurricanes are coming off a 27-30 season and started this year with 29 new faces (16 transfers and 13 freshman) on their 36-man roster. Miami has slashed .293/.419/.436 with six home runs and 11 stolen bases.

First win as a Hurricane for Reese ✅ pic.twitter.com/9pvl0wyzEG

— Miami Hurricanes Baseball (@CanesBaseball) February 27, 2025

O’Sullivan decided to change his weekend pitching rotation. He’ll keep his usual Friday night starter Liam Peterson (2-0, 0.00 ERA), who opposes UM right-hander Nick Robert (2-0, 0.90), but moved up left-hander Pierce Coppola (2-0, 1.80) to Saturday and righty Jake Clemente (1-0, 1.80) to Sunday.

Miami will go with all right-handers, including Griffin Hugus (2-0, 1.50) on Saturday and Brian Walter (2-0, 0.82) on Sunday.

First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday. The series will be covered on the SEC Network+ and ESPN 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF. Saturday’s game has a 4:30 p.m. start with Sunday’s contest scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.

Tickets can be purchased online or by calling the Gator Ticket Office at 352-375-4683.