Gators ride record night at the plate to historic, NCAA Regional rout of rival Miami
GAINESVILLE - Florida turned its NCAA Regional matchup with Miami into a home-run derby, showing no mercy to the Gators’ rival to move within a game of hosting a Super Regional - with a trip to the College World Series at stake.
Coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad blasted a five homers, including three in a row, during the bottom of the eighth inning of a 22-10 rout that began Saturday night and ended early Sunday morning.
“I can’t explain tonight,” O’Sullivan said. “It was amazing. That doesn’t happen very often. It’s incredible.”
A reported crowd of 5,673 at Condron Family Ballpark savored every blast over the fence. At one point fans chanted, “SEC, SEC,” as ACC’s Hurricanes watched helplessly as baseballs cleared the outfield wall at a record rate.
Florida had never hit five homers in a single inning.
“I’ve never seen the atmosphere it was tonight, and it helped,” O’Sullivan said. “This is my 19th year and that’s the best it’s ever been.”
During the four-hour, 13-minute marathon, the Gators (41-19) recorded seven home runs, an NCAA Tournament record for Florida, and 15 hits while cycling through nine Miami pitchers and producing a pair of seven-run innings.
Florida’s run total is the most scored against the Hurricanes in Miami school history.
The Gators will now play Troy (34-30) on Sunday at 5 p.m. seeking to sweep the double-elimination regional and avoid a Monday winner-take-all game. Troy knocked the Hurricanes out of the tournament with a 9-6 win early Sunday. Miami ends its season 39-20.
“I’ve never done that, three games straight, so that’d be awesome,” said redshirt junior Cade Kurland, who hit two home runs against Miami. “Let’s do it.”
Neither team could pull away as the Gators and Hurricanes were knotted 8-8 entering the bottom of the sixth inning.
Miami had chased Florida ace Aidan King after three innings as the SEC Pitcher of the Year allowed eight hits and six earned runs while striking out three on 74 pitches.
The Hurricanes, however, struggled even more on the mound, while adding to their problems in the field. The ACC leader with 89 errors committed four more against Florida.
“That’s not the way you draw it up,” coach J.D. Arteaga said. “Starting pitcher (AJ Ciscar) doesn’t get out of the first inning, you make four errors … That’s a good team. You can’t give them extra outs.”
The Gators broke open the game as Miami used three pitchers in the sixth, and was inept in the field. Florida managed just one hit but scored seven runs during a 35-minute inning to lead 15-8.
Two Florida batters walked to sandwich the inning’s first out. The second came on a pop-up by third baseman Ethan Surowiec to catcher Alonzo Alvarez.
The Hurricanes then fell apart.
A Miami miscue loaded the bases. Shortstop Vance Sheahan fielded a grounder by Caden McDonald, but casually threw the ball to third baseman Gabriel Milano who missed the tag of Kyle Jones to load the bases.
Florida catcher Karson Bowen drew four consecutive balls off pitcher Ryan Bilka, who had replaced Jack Durso (0-2), to score Jones to break the tie. Miami then brought in Brixton Longren. He immediately walked Landon Stripling to score Blake Cyr - a former Hurricane who transferred to Gainesville in 2024.
A line drive by Kurland was then misplayed by Sheahan, allowing McDonald to score.
Longren followed with a wild pitch to score Bowen. A double by Jones over the head of Miami right fielder Derek Williams scored three more runs to complete Florida’s scoring.
Miami rallied briefly to score two runs in the top of the eight inning against Jackson Barberi. The second score came on a line drive that ricocheted off the 6-foot-4 sophomore right-hander’s right ankle - leading a trainer to the mound to check on him.
With runners on first and second, Barberi (5-2) quickly refocused and struck out pinch hitter Brandon DeGoti swinging at a 96 mph fastball - his 61st pitch of the night.
O’Sullivan praised Barberi’s resiliency, considering he’d allowed a grand slam to Rider on Friday to tie the game 4-4 during the Gators’ dramatic 8-7 win.
“He just reached back and threw three of his best fastballs the entire night,” O’Sullivan said. “If he doesn’t pitch the way he does tonight, we’re still playing, who knows? It was really good to see him bounce back.”
Meanwhile, Florida’s hitters were just getting warmed up.
Kurland delivered a solo home run with one out in the top of the eighth inning. After a second out and walk by Jones, shortstop Brandon Lawson blasted a homer to center field, his team-leading 18th of the season.
Cyr and Surowiec followed with home runs. Two batters later, Bowen hit his second of the night as the senior recorded a team-best five RBI.
All five homers came against sophomore Tate DeRias.
In two NCAA Regional games, Florida now has 12 home runs, giving the Gators 102 in 2026 - ranking sixth in school history.
“It’s kind of just building for awhile, where we can kind of just explode at any moment,” Bowen said.
Miami was blown away and then blown out of the tournament.
“Backed ourselves into a corner,” Arteaga said.
Florida needs just one more victory to advance. But Kurland warned the Gators need to quickly put a historic performance behind them.
“Tomorrow’s a new day,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how many runs you put up, you gotta do the same thing day after day. It’s as simple as that.”
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com
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This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 3:43 AM.