Gators host NCAA baseball regional, featuring Miami, in Gainesville

GAINESVILLE - The red-hot Florida baseball team will have chance to get back to the College World Series playing on the Gators’ home field.

Coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad was awarded the No. 8 national seed in the 64-team NCAA Tournament and will host Miami (38-18) - the No. 2 seed in the Gainesville Regional - No. 3 Troy (32-29) and No. 4 Rider (33-18).

UF opens at 1 p.m. Friday against Rider on ESPN+. Miami and Troy will meet at 6 p.m. on the ACC Network.

The winners will meet Saturday. Florida and Miami met during the season’s opening weeks, with the Gators prevailing 7-2 on Feb. 27 and 8-4 on Feb. 28. Inclement weather canceled the third game of the series.

Winners of 10 of their last 12 games and featuring a nation-best 15-7 record against top-25 opponents, the Gators will host a Super Regional if they prevail during the double-elimination series, slated to run Friday-Sunday at Condron Family Ballpark.

Florida, ranked ninth by Baseball America and No. 11 in the RPI, closed the regular season by winning three straight SEC series. UF then reached the conference tournament semifinals before squandering a 6-0 lead during an 8-7 loss to fourth-ranked Georgia.

The Gators have hosted a regional 13 times under O’Sullivan and reached the NCAA Tournament in each of his 19 seasons in Gainesville.

SEC Pitcher of the Year Aidan King, who is 8-2 with a 2.48 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 84 innings, anchors the Gators’ staff. Outfielder Blake Cyr, a senior who transferred from Miami in 2024, and sophomore third baseman Ethan Surowiec are the team’s two leading hitters and earned spots on the SEC All-Tournament team.

Cyr was 9-for-13 (.692) and had 19 total bases, while hitting two home runs, two doubles and a triple, while scoring six runs in the SEC Tournament. He leads Florida with a .338 batting average while hitting 13 homers, 15 doubles, 56 RBI and scoring 50 runs.

Surowiec was 6-for-12 with a homer, two doubles and four runs during the conference tournament. He leads Florida with 61 RBI and has 11 home runs, 14 doubles and 51 runs.

Sophomore shortstop Brendan Lawson leads the Gators with 16 homers and 63 runs, while batting .308 with 43 RBI.

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com

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This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 1:15 PM.