Florida’s pitching duo of junior Liam Peterson and sophomore reliever Jackson Barberi faced their biggest test of the season so far in Coral Gables, Florida.
The two answered the call. Peterson lasted five innings, recording eight strikeouts and forced outs while surrendering two runs and just one walk. Meanwhile, Barberi closed the game in relief with three scoreless innings, logging three strikeouts and five fly outs.
The pitching duo, paired with a five-run eighth inning, led the No. 10 Gators (10-1) to a 7-2 series-opening victory against No. 17 Miami (10-1) on Friday night to hand the ‘Canes their first loss of 2026.
Sophomore shortstop Brendan Lawson set the tone for Florida in the first with a solo bomb to deep left field, putting the Gators up 1-0.
After two scoreless innings, Florida tacked on another in the fourth to make it a two-run game. After back-to-back singles from Lawson and sophomore infielder Ethan Surowiec, senior catcher Karson Bowen hit a sacrifice groundout to advance both.
Then, freshman outfielder Cash Strayer finished the job with a sacrifice fly to score Lawson.
Miami had an opportunity to score in the fifth. But Peterson stood tall on the mound, retiring three straight Canes to leave two stranded on first and third base.
But, in the top of the sixth with Lawson on second and Surowiec on first, Hurricanes sophomore pitcher AJ Ciscar forced a double-play, catching a line-out from Bowen and throwing out Lawson at second.
Miami led off the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff double down the right field line from senior infielder Jake Ogden. Sophomore outfielder Michael Torres then singled to right-center to put runners on the corners.
Fifth-year outfielder Derek Williams finished it off with a single to the infield to score Ogden, cutting Florida’s lead in half to 2-1. Peterson was then relieved for Barberi.
The Canes tied the game shortly after, as graduate infielder Brylan West singled to right field to score Torres, notching the ballgame to 2-2. Barberi stopped the bleeding with a big strikeout on a 3-2 count to end the frame.
Ciscar then retired the side, giving Miami the chance to take its first lead of the night in the bottom of the seventh.
Barberi said not so fast, as he responded with two fly outs and a ground out to keep the game even at two runs apiece heading into the eighth. Surowiec dove for the ground ball at third base and threw a dime to junior first-baseman Landon Stripling for the third out.
Freshman outfielder Jacob Kendall took matters into his own hands, as his second solo-bomb of the season to deep right field gave the Gators a 3-2 lead in the eighth.
Freshman infielder Kolt Myers then reached second after Ogden failed to make a play on the fly ball. Lawson followed up with another hit, singling down the mound to score Myers, making it a two-run Florida advantage.
Surowiec walked, and the Gators found themselves with loaded bases with zero outs. After Bowen reached first and Jones was called out at home, Strayer was walked, sending Lawson home to make it a 5-2 ballgame.
A deep sacrifice fly from senior outfielder Blake Cyr allowed Surowiec to walk home to make it a four-run advantage for Florida.
Sophomore pitcher/infielder Caden McDonald then singled to left field in a pinch-hitting effort to score Bowen, but Strayer was caught out at home. Nonetheless, Florida found itself up five runs.
Barberi surrendered a leadoff single in the ninth, but retired the next three Canes to secure the victory and give the Gators their first ranked win of 2026.
Game two of the weekend matchup will begin Saturday evening with first pitch set for 6 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.
