The bats stayed hot for the Gators on Wednesday night in midweek action.
Senior outfielder Blake Cyr, senior catcher Cole Stanford and freshman outfielder Cash Strayer went yard as Florida (4-1) downed the Stetson Hatters (0-5) 9-3 at Condron Ballpark.
Junior righty Luke McNeillie saw his first action of 2026 as Florida’s starting pitcher. In his season debut, he finished with two strikeouts and zero walks in two innings of play.
“Exciting getting him back out there,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I thought everybody did a good job.”
The Gators got the bats hot in the second inning with six runs. Cyr led off with a single, and freshman designated hitter Jacob Kendall, who hit his first career home run Tuesday, followed up with a single of his own to left field.
Stanford then reached on a fielder’s choice, and two throwing errors from Stetson freshman pitcher Brendan Walker and freshman second baseman Juan De La Cruz allowed Cyr to score and Kendall to advance to third.
Then, Walker hit Strayer to load the bases. Walker was quickly relieved in favor of junior Dallis Moran.
Sophomore outfielder Kyle Jones reached on a fielder’s choice, and a throwing error from Moran, plus a drop from Stetson freshman catcher Salvador Alvarez, allowed Kendall to score.
UF Sophomore shortstop Brendan Lawson then doubled down the left field line to score Strayer and Stanford. Jones then scored off of a wild pitch, and a single from sophomore transfer first baseman Ethan Surowiec sent Lawson home, earning UF a 6-0 advantage.
The Hatters responded quickly in the third. After a walk from senior outfielder Landon Russell, freshman first baseman Renzo Gonzalez hit a bomb to right field to make it a 6-2 ballgame.
Strayer, the reigning co-SEC freshman of the week, followed that up with a solo home run in the third that hit the scoreboard to extend the Gator advantage to five runs.
“I always have the belief in myself that I deserve to play here,” Strayer said. “I was looking for a heater and I got it. It felt great.”
Florida’s pitching and outfield play began to struggle in the fourth. Lawson couldn’t make a play on two fly balls, and freshman lefty Jackson Hoyt, who replaced McNeillie in the third, hit Stetson freshman shortstop Jack Harley, loading the bases for Stetson with one out.
Senior righty Ricky Reeth took Hoyt’s place on the mound shortly after. He set the tone, forcing a double play to leave three Hatters stranded.
Stetson tacked on one run in the fifth. Russell led off with a double to left field. Sophomore left fielder Foster Apple then singled to center field to score Russell and cut UF’s advantage to 7-3. Reeth was then subbed for senior lefty Ernesto Lugo-Canchola.
“I really focused this year on one pitch at a time,” Lugo-Canchola said. “When I get between those lines, I’m going to go do my job.”
Lugo-Canchola came in and fanned one while forcing a fly out to end the frame. He punched out five batters with zero walks. In his first two appearances as a Gator, he retired all 17 hitters faced.
He walked off the mound to roaring cheers from Florida fans as he was relieved for freshman Joshua Whritenour in the eighth.
“It means the world to me,” Lugo-Canchola said. “A lot of people dream of representing this logo.”
Florida tacked on two more in the sixth. Cyr launched one down the right-field line for a solo home run, and Stanford joined the party right after with a solo bomb to left center field to make it a 9-3 Gator lead.
Florida held on the rest of the way defensively to secure the midweek sweep.
The Gators will be back in action Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Condron Family Ballpark against Kennesaw State (3-0).
“You’re going to see a really good brand of baseball this weekend,” O’Sullivan said. “Excited about the way we’re playing, but obviously we got a long way to go.”
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.
