No. 7 Florida Hosts Harvard in Final Non-Conference Series
All three games will be streamed on SEC Network+ with Friday night’s series premiere scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET. Games two and three will begin on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET and Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
This weekend marks the third series in Gainesville between the two programs, occurring roughly once every decade in 2006, 2016 and now 2025. The Gators look to maintain their undefeated, 6-0 record against the Crimson in this decennial matchup. Under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan, the Gators are 3-0 in the series following a sweep in 2016 (16-5, 9-2, 3-1).
Pitching Matchups
| Friday | 6:30 ET (SECN+) | Saturday | 3 ET (SECN+) | Sunday | 1 ET (SECN+) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard | RHP Callan Fang (2024: 3-3, 4.64 ERA) | RHP Truman Pauley (0-2, 5.40 ERA) | TBA |
| Florida | RHP Liam Peterson (3-0, 1.13 ERA | RHP Aidan King (2-0, 0.87 ERA) | TBA |
| Links | WATCH | LISTEN | WATCH | LISTEN | WATCH | LISTEN |
CHECKING OUR POLLS
Florida moved up one spot from No. 8 to No. 7 in the D1Baseball Top 25 after going 4-1 last week with a series win over Miami. The Gators are a unanimous top-10 team and are ranked as highly as No. 6 in the country per Baseball America.
SERIES PROMOS
On Friday, the first 500 UF students will receive belt bags courtesy of American Campus Communities. For Sunday’s series finale, eye black will be provided to the first 500 kids 12 & under.
FOOD TRUCKS
There will be two food trucks located in the Dizney Grove area beyond the outfield wall on each day of the weekend series.
Friday: Domi Ice, Ferley’s BBQ
Saturday: Kona Ice, Mi Apa
Sunday: Rastafar Ice, Cilantro Tacos
SULLY SUPERLATIVES
Coming off the program’s 14th trip to the College World Series and second in as many seasons, O’Sullivan enters his 18th season. Since O’Sullivan’s 2008 arrival, Florida leads the sport with 290 SEC wins, 37 MLB debuts, 16 NCAA berths (T-1st), 10 top-eight seeds, nine College World Series trips, nine Super Regionals hosted and six SEC titles. The Gators have advanced to nine of the last 14 College World Series overall.
LAST TIME OUT
After taking two of three against Miami, Florida split its midweek contests at UCF (L, 13-3) and against Florida Atlantic (W, 4-2). Infielder Brendan Lawson hit his third homer in the former, while outfielder Blake Cyr and catcher/designated hitter Brody Donay blasted homers behind 5 1/3 stellar frames from right-handed pitcher Billy Barlow in the latter.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON
After landing sixth in the Ivy League Preseason Poll, the Harvard Crimson are back this season hoping to break their early-season losing streak. Off to a 0-6 start, the Crimson travel down south for the first time this season in search of their first win. Offensively, Harvard has slashed .210/.288/.364 as a team with six home runs and three stolen bases. As for the pitching staff, the Crimson has struck out 39 batters over 45 1/3 innings pitched.
GATOR NATION’S ATTENDANCE RECORDS
Sunday’s crowd of 7,316 vs. Miami brought the total series attendance to a program-record 23,737 for a three-game set. On Saturday, Condron Family Ballpark welcomed a program-record crowd 9,303 fans for game two alone, marking the largest on-campus crowd for a baseball game in the history of the state of Florida.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
After 14 games, Florida is ranked inside the top-20 teams nationally across nine statistical categories. Headlined by the fourth-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.12) and fifth-highest strikeouts per nine innings (12.8) in the country, the Gators also rank eighth in home runs (24), 13th in WHIP (1.11), 14th in hits (148), 16th in walks allowed per nine (3.1), 16th in doubles (32), 16th in sacrifice flies (nine) and 20th in stolen bases (30).
LINEUP LENGTH
Florida enters the weekend with six qualified hitters batting over .320 with an OBP of at least .415 and slugging .535 or higher. All six players have an OPS above .950. This does not factor in non-qualifiers such as utilityman Justin Nadeau (.435/.536/.478) and infielder Landon Stripling (.308/.387/.462). Eight different Gators have gone yard this season, as Florida has homered in all 14 games.
FRESH LP JUST DROPPED
This past week, ace hurler Liam Peterson was ranked by Baseball America as the top-ranked college pitcher for the 2026 MLB Draft, coming in at No. 3 in the class overall. Peterson has been utterly dominant to start the season, boasting a 3-0 record, 1.13 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, .145 batting average against and 32-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 16 innings. The sophomore has notched quality starts in two of his first three outings after turning in just one over 16 starts as a freshman.
KING OF THE CONFERENCE
Florida freshman righty Aidan King was honored as the SEC Pitcher of the Week on Monday, giving the Gators a third-straight conference award winner to open the season. Across two appearances against Stetson (Feb. 25) and Miami (March 1), King went 2-0 by firing a combined 6 1/3 shutout, one-hit innings on one walk and seven strikeouts. King is the first true freshman to be named the SEC’s sole recipient of Pitcher of the Week since Tennessee’s Drew Beam on April 4, 2022. On the season, the right-hander is 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA, .184 batting average against and 12-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 10 1/3 innings pitched.
STEALING THE SHOW
The Gators have remained hot on the basepaths, stealing 30 bases in 33 attempts (90.9%), equating to 2.1 steals per game. For reference, the Gators averaged 0.7 steals per game last season. After 14 games, the Gators are 70% of the way to reaching their 2024 steals total (43).
DONAY DEMOS
Having cranked seven homers on the season, Donay embarks on the weekend tied for sixth nationally and second in the SEC in big flies. The slugger leads the Gators in every slash category (.409/.544/.955) on top of being a perfect 3-for-3 on steals. This season, Donay is averaging a home run every 6.3 at bats and is on pace for 28 homers in the 56-game regular season alone. Last season, Donay hit a home run every 11.9 at bats – meaning he has nearly doubled an already-efficient home run rate
ALEX FILTH-POTT
To start his sophomore campaign, right-handed pitcher Alex Philpott has tossed 7 1/3 innings while only giving up one run as the Gators closer. On the season, Philpott has a 1.23 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, .138 batting average against and 13 strikeouts to just three walks. Philpott has two saves on the season, which is tied for fifth in the SEC, and has shut the door in all five games he has appeared in. Ranking second on the team in appearances, he has recorded a strikeout in each of his five appearances this season. He owns a 16.0 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 on the year.
THE BIG PITCH
Florida pitchers have produced a 169-to-41 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 14 games. The Gators have fanned double-digit batters in 11 of 14 games while registering at least eight strikeouts in every contest. The Gators have walked two batters or fewer eight times this season, and four or less in 11 games.
REPECT THE B-LAW
As the first UF rookie to collect an SEC Weekly award, Lawson was named SEC Freshman of the Week back on Feb. 24. Refusing to slow down, the Toronto native remained red hot as evidenced by a .444/.542/.833 batting line over five games last week. Starting all 14 contests for Florida this season, Lawson has delivered a robust 1.039 OPS to go with a .347/.468/.571 slash, three homers, 15 runs, three steals and a team-high 15 RBI.
WE’RE GOING STREAKING!
Two Gators have reached base safely in all 14 games this season in Cyr and infielder Colby Shelton while Donay has reached in all 13 contests he has played in. Shelton has been particularly locked in, recording hits in all but one game and ranking second on the team with six multi-hit games behind Lawson (seven). Showing an improved ability to hit to all fields, Shelton is batting a robust .351/.415/.676 with one homer and eight doubles, which leads the SEC and ranks fifth nationally.
BOBBY BASEBALL BLASTS
Starting all 14 games in the infield for the Gators, infielder Bobby Boser is slashing .321/.439/.660 with an OPS of 1.100. Boser has been a steady force at the top of the Florida lineup, reaching base in 13 of 14 games and collecting hits in 11 contests. Leading the team with nine walks, Boser is also tied for the team lead with 17 runs, and ranks second on the club with his five home runs and 14 RBI.
RELENTLESS REPTILES
Florida has already secured five come-from-behind victories in its 12-2 start. Last season, the Gators delivered 21 wins in comeback fashion, featuring 12 of the team’s 13 SEC wins. Florida trailed in six of its 2024 postseason victories and claimed five-straight NCAA Tournament elimination games to keep its season alive. Going back two seasons, 22 of the 2023 Gators’ program-record 54 victories came via comebacks.
PARKING/SHUTTLES
Fans are encouraged to park at the Fifield and IFAS lots during the weekend. An increased number of shuttles will be available for transportation to the ballpark each day. No parking is permitted anywhere on the grass, sidewalks, or along streets. Doing so runs the risk of receiving a parking citation.
Click HERE for a Parking map.
- General Parking is available in the main Condron Family Ballpark baseball lot, the small lot in front of the Donald R. Dizney Stadium and the Fifield Hall parking lot located directly across Hull Road.
- Additional parking is available at:
- UF Facilities Services lot off Radio Rd
- Maguire Village Lot off Bledsoe Dr
- Additional parking is available at:
- Disabled parking is available on a first-come, first-serve basis in the Condron Family Ballpark west lot with a valid Disabled Placard.
- Fans can follow this link to an interactive parking map.
- RV Parking is available in the Fifield Flat lot. Reserved RV parking is not available for Florida baseball games. All motor home parking is on a first come, first-served basis.
- On-board generators are permitted, however exterior or pull-along generators are prohibited at all times. For safety reasons, all motor homes/RVs are required to utilize exhaust extensions or “smoke stacks” to channel exhaust fumes to the top of the motor home/RV.
- Overnight stays are only allowed on weekend series in the Fifield Flat lot.
- Do Not Park Illegally
- No parking on grass, sidewalks, or along streets. Doing so runs the risk of receiving a parking citation.
- Park in designated parking spots (Do not park on grass or in No Parking Zones).
- Vehicles are subject to towing if they block streets, sidewalks, service drives, or fire lanes, or if illegally parked in a disabled space.
TICKET INFORMATION
Season tickets and SEC Five-Pack Mini-Plans are currently on sale now in addition to single-game tickets. Tickets can be purchased online or by contacting the Gator Ticket Office at (352) 375-4683.
MOBILE TICKETING & FLORIDA GATORS APP
As a reminder, mobile ticketing is required. There will be two ways to access your tickets:
1) through the Florida Gators app from your mobile device or
2) through FloridaGators.com/myaccount. Fans will also be able to transfer or donate their tickets easily within the app or online.
TRAFFIC PATTERNS ON GAME DAY
Those visiting Condron Family Ballpark on game day should be aware of updated traffic patterns surrounding the ballpark. Fans are advised to utilize Ballpark Way, which will serve as a connecting route to the ballpark from Archer Road. For departures, a postgame traffic flow pattern guide can be found here.
ON DECK
The Gators travel to Tallahassee, Fla. on Tuesday for their first of three meetings against Florida State. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ACCNX.
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