Despite the bats being cold again, Florida’s pitching continued its hot weekend to secure a series victory against South Carolina.
Sophomore pitcher Aidan King led the way for the Gators. After a rough outing against High Point last week, the preseason All-American bounced back with six scoreless innings and nine strikeouts while surrendering just two hits.
Florida (17-3, 2-0 SEC) took down the Gamecocks (12-8, 0-2 SEC) 3-0 Saturday night at Condron Family Ballpark to earn its first SEC series victory of 2026.
It marked the first time since 2013 against Ole Miss that the Gators have secured back-to-back shutouts.
The Gators threatened to score in the opening frame, but freshman outfielder Cash Strayer left two runners stranded at the corners with a flyout.
Florida had some fire in the third, as back-to-back one-out singles from sophomore infielder Ethan Surowiec and senior catcher Karson Bowen put runners on base. Then, Strayer sacrificed a ground ball to advance the runners.
But, with two outs, senior outfielder Blake Cyr flew out as the Gators left two runners stranded for the third straight inning. Meanwhile, King continued to deal, retiring the Gamecocks in order in the fourth.
Florida drew first blood in the bottom of the fourth. Freshman infielder Kolt Myers walked on a 3-2 count and stole second base shortly after. Then, sophomore outfielder Kyle Jones reached first as SC outfielder Patrick Evans could not catch the fly ball.
That allowed Myers to reach home plate as the Gators ended the fourth inning with a 1-0 lead.
South Carolina threatened to respond in the following inning. Evans bounced back from the error with a leadoff double to left field. Then, a sacrifice groundout from senior outfielder Ethan Lizama sent Evans to third. Fifth-year infielder Logan Sutter was then walked as the Gamecocks had runners on the corners with one out.
But, King battled with two straight strikeouts to leave two stranded heading into the midpoint. South Carolina still had no answers for King in the sixth, as he retired the order again, capping it off with his ninth strikeout, which tied his career high.
Florida was close to extending its lead in the sixth. Freshman infielder Colton Schwarz led off with a double down the left field line. Then, Miller hit a sacrifice bunt to send Schwarz to third. However, Schwarz was ruled out at home plate after Myers reached first on a fielder’s choice, and the Gators came up empty.
King was subbed out for senior Ernesto Lugo-Canchola to start the seventh. Lugo-Canchola set the tone, retiring the side of the order to begin his closing effort.
The Gators tacked on two runs to extend their lead in the bottom of the frame. Lawson and Surowiec were walked, and Bowen was hit by a pitch to give Florida loaded bases with no outs.
Then, Strayer hit another big sacrifice fly to score Lawson to make it a two-run ballgame. Cyr was then also hit by a pitch to give Florida loaded bases again. Schwarz sacrificed himself with a flyout to score Surowiec as the Gators exited the seventh frame up three runs.
After surrendering a double in the eighth with one out, Lugo-Canchola was relieved for sophomore Jackson Barberi on the mound. Lugo-Canchola finished with a strikeout and three forced outs in 1.1 innings of action.
Barberi came in and retired his first two batters to send it to the bottom of the frame as the Gators looked for insurance.
Despite a two-out double from Lawson and a stolen third base, Surowiec left him stranded at third as he struck out looking on a 3-2 count.
Barberi did not bat an eye as he retired the last three Gamecocks to secure the series win for Florida.
The Gators will look for the sweep Sunday with first pitch set for 12:00 p.m.
Contact Adrian Carmona at acarmona@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @abcarmona04.
Adrian is a senior journalism major and the baseball reporter for the Spring of 2026. He previously served as the soccer reporter in the fall of 2025. He enjoys playing Sporcle quizzes and ranting about South Florida sports.
