Through six innings, Florida looked destined for the SEC Championship game. The Gators built a strong early lead and were controlling the game on both sides. That was before the rain hit.
Passing storms pushed the semifinal game to an hour-long rain delay that ultimately derailed UF’s championship-game bid.
Florida’s SEC Tournament run came to a crushing end Saturday after surrendering a late lead to Georgia in Hoover, Alabama. Despite having a six-run lead as early as the third inning, Florida (39-19, 18-12 SEC) fell to Georgia (45-12, 23-7 SEC), 8-7, in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
With the Gators leading 7-6 in the eighth inning, UGA senior shortstop Kolby Branch reached on a chopped ground ball that ate up UF sophomore third baseman Ethan Surowiec. Georgia senior right fielder Ryan Black followed with a stinging opposite-field double into the left-center field gap that put two runners in scoring position. UF junior right fielder Hayden Yost made a spectacular play to rob an extra-base hit, but the hard-hit ball was deep enough to score the game-tying run from third.
Junior catcher and SEC Player of the Year Daniel Jackson followed with a sacrifice fly to left field that drove in Black and gave Georgia its first lead of the night at 8-7.
The Gators were unable to respond in the ninth inning as redshirt junior right-hander Justin Byrd retired Florida in order to seal the comeback victory.
Despite the end result, the Gators came out hot in the first inning. Senior left fielder Blake Cyr wasted no time getting Florida on the board, crushing a towering 427-foot solo home run to left field.
The Gators then erupted in the third inning after senior second baseman Cade Kurland was hit by a pitch and Yost flicked a single into right field. Sophomore shortstop Brendan Lawson drew a walk to load the bases for Cyr, who promptly chopped a ball up the middle to drive in two runs and extend Florida’s lead to 3-0.
It didn’t take long for redshirt sophomore two-way player Caden McDonald to pummel a line-drive three-run home run over the left-field wall that gave the Gators a commanding 6-0 advantage.
The duo of McDonald and Cyr batted a combined 4-for-8 with two home runs and accounted for all seven RBIs in the loss.
Junior starting pitcher Russell Sandefer opened the game with a scoreless first inning for UF before exiting in the second after taking a line drive off his forearm. Sophomore right-hander Jackson Barberi entered in relief and escaped the inning before striking out the side in the third.
Georgia’s offense finally broke through in the fourth inning. Sophomore center fielder Rylan Lujo was hit by a pitch before sophomore left fielder Kenny Ishikawa ripped a single into right field. Barberi bounced back with a strikeout, but senior first baseman Brennan Hudson launched a deep fly ball to right field that looked destined to leave the yard before Yost robbed the home run at the wall. Despite Yost’s perfectly timed jump, Lujo scored from third to cut the deficit to 6-1.
Redshirt senior Ricky Reeth later entered and surrendered consecutive doubles that trimmed Florida’s lead to 6-3.
The Bulldogs sustained their offensive pressure and added another run in the fifth to make it 6-4. Jackson doubled and later scored on a wild pitch from junior right-hander Luke McNeillie.
Florida added an insurance run in the seventh after Cyr knocked an RBI single to left field that pushed the Gators’ lead to 7-4, but momentum shifted after the hour-long weather delay.
Redshirt freshman right-hander Joshua Whritenour entered for graduate lefty Ernesto Lugo-Canchola and immediately surrendered a single before Ishikawa drilled a fastball into the left-center field gap for a two-run double. The UGA sophomore’s clutch extra-base hit cut Florida’s lead to 7-6, and Georgia ultimately completed the comeback one inning later to advance to the SEC Tournament championship game.
The loss ended Florida’s tournament run one win short of the SEC title game, leaving the Gators looking ahead toward regionals, which start Friday May 29th.
Contact Colton Veres at cveres@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @colton_veres.
Colton Veres is a senior sports journalism student in his first semester at The Alligator. He is currently the Summer 2026 baseball reporter. In his free time he enjoys watching the Red Sox and spending times with friends and loved ones.
