Gators avoid collapse, survive dramatic NCAA Regional opener to face Miami

GAINESVILLE - Florida’s home-run barrage offset a bullpen collapse as the Gators survived a dramatic NCAA Regional opener that up a meeting with rival Miami.

Sophomore shortstop Brendan Lawson’s walk-off home run to open the bottom of the ninth inning carried Florida past Rider 8-7 as the No. 9 Gators avoided a crushing defeat during their first regional game at home since 2023. Lawson drove a 2-1 pitch from senior Christian Aiello to center field to cap a wild finish.

Before he stepped to the plate, Lawson said told outfielder Blake Cyr he was confident the Gators would avoid extra innings.

“I’m going to get on and we’re going to end the game,” Lawson recalled telling the Miami transfer and Gators’ leading hitter.

On Saturday, Florida will host the Hurricanes (39-18), who defeated Troy 10-5 late Friday night. The Trojans (32-29) were to play Rider in an elimination game Saturday. The Gators nearly ended up in the loser’s bracket, which would have put the tournament’s No. 8 national seed in a more difficult position to advance out of the double-elimination regional and into one of next weekend’s Super Regionals.

Coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s team (40-19) was cruising along, leading 4-0 entering the eighth inning after No. 3 starter Russell Sandefer rose to the occasion and delivered a gem. Florida’s batters supported him with two home runs, beginning with center fielder Kyle Jones’ solo shot in the opening inning.

But the Gators were just getting started with the long ball on a day they hit five.

Meanwhile, Rider (33-19), a veteran group from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, featuring 13 seniors, finally began to warm up at the plate. Facing a full count and two outs with the bases loaded, Broncs’ senior outfielder Anthony Paskell smacked a pitch by sophomore Jackson Barberi over the left-field fence to tie the game at 4-4.

O’Sullivan sent in top reliever Joshua Whritenour, but the redshirt freshman allowed a double followed by a home run from junior catcher Nick Shuhet to push Rider’s advantage to 6-4.

Florida responded with a home run from Caden McDonald to open the inning, a triple by catcher Karson Bowen and home run by second baseman Cade Kurland after a strikeout by first baseman Landon Stripling, who had homered in the sixth inning to make it 4-0.

Trailing 7-6, the Broncos answered again, with a solo shot by junior shortstop Matt Leahy to leave the game tied before Lawson’s walk-off effort.

“It was a little nerve-wracking,” O’Sullivan said. “At this point in the season, a win is a win. We need to pitch better at the end of the game to reach our ultimate goal.”

O’Sullivan had given Sandefer the nod over SEC Pitcher of the Year Aidan King and veteran Liam Peterson in order to save them for bigger games over the weekend.

Sandefer allowed just two hits and struck out five during 5.2 innings after lasting just an inning in his last appearance during the SEC tournament semifinals against Georgia. The Tampa native in his first season at UF was hit by a line drive against Georgia and left the game.

At one point, Sandefer retired 12 straight batters.

McDonald replaced him but O’Sullivan replaced him after 1 1/3 innings having allowed just one hit. From there, the Gators used three pitchers over two innings as Rider turned a runaway into a nail-biter.

“He was really good,” O’Sullivan said of Sandefer. “It was hot and it was probably as humid a day as we've had. I thought he ran out of gas, that's why we went to Caden - then I thought he ran out of gas. Hoping to stretch the lead out a little bit more from four runs, we wouldn't have to use some of the guys we did.”

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 5:08 PM.