Facing an early two-run deficit, Florida needed a spark to get the bats running.
After junior second baseman Cade Kurland was hit on the elbow, the home plate umpire ruled him out for extending his elbow. UF associate head coach Tom Slater had some words for the umpire and was promptly ejected.
Slater’s ejection was the boost Florida needed, as the Gators scored 17 runs after he was tossed, 14 of them coming with two outs.
“I think our offense was good tonight,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “First couple innings were a little slow.”
Florida (8-1) used the momentum to pounce on FIU (6-3) 17-11 on Tuesday night at Condron Family Ballpark.
FIU drew first blood in the opening frame. With bases loaded, junior designated hitter Aidan Cohall hit a sacrifice groundout to score junior third baseman Samuel Fischer and junior first baseman Cooper Rasmussen.
That would be the only full inning of play for Florida junior pitcher Luke McNeillie. After surrendering three hits, two runs and a walk with two strikeouts, he was relieved for senior righty Ricky Reeth in the second.
“I think [McNeillie’s] probably just a little rusty still,” O’Sullivan said. “Hopefully he’ll get sharp.”
After giving up a single from Fischer, Reeth stranded three runners with a forced fly out against sophomore right fielder Andrew Ildefonso. The Notre Dame transfer earned the win, finishing with six strikeouts and three flyouts while walking zero Panthers.
In came a statement from sophomore shortstop Brendan Lawson. In the bottom of the third with two outs, he doubled down the right center line, scoring senior catcher Karson Bowen and senior left fielder Blake Cyr to even the game at two runs.
Lawson ended the night 1-for-3 with 3 RBI’sand two trips to home plate.
But the Panthers had a response right after in the fourth. Rasmussen sacrificed with a fly out to score senior center fielder Hector Candelas. Then, a double from Fischer scored senior second baseman Vicente Feliciano to bring it back to a two-run FIU advantage.
The back-and-forth continued as the Gators took their first lead in the bottom of the fourth frame. With Kurland at second, Cyr singled to left field with two outs to score Kurland.
“I’m just going out there and having fun every day,” Cyr said. “God gave me the opportunity to be out here every single day, so I got to take advantage of it.”
Then, in a pinch-hitting effort, junior infielder Landon Stripling singled to center field to score Cyr to tie the ballgame. Sophomore center fielder Kyle Jones followed up with a 2 RBI triple to deep center field to give Florida a 6-4 advantage.
Lawson finished the job with a single to right field. Feliciano could not secure the ground ball, as Jones scored to extend the Gator lead to three runs.
Freshman outfielder Cash Strayer then singled to right field to score Lawson, and Surowiec ended the scoring run for Florida with a single up the middle to score Bowen as Florida plated seven in the fourth frame to take a 9-4 lead.
Surowiec finished 2-for-5 with 4 RBI’s and one run.
The Gators added six more in the fifth frame in what was a long and grueling inning for FIU’s defense. With bases loaded, three Gators were walked by Panthers senior reliever Tyler Mecchella to make it an eight-run game.
Then, Surowiec cleared the bags with a 3 RBI double to right field, scoring Strayer, Lawson and Jones to make it a 15-4 Gator advantage.
In a full-circle moment, Kurland lined one to center field to score Surowiec, as Florida scored seven runs in consecutive innings to push its lead to 12runs.
But the Panthers cut the lead to 8 runs in the sixth. With bases loaded, Ildef doubled to left center field to score senior infielder Enrique Alvarez Jr. and Feliciano.
Then, junior infielder Boston Doeschot singled through the right side to score Ildef and sophomore infielder Tracen Cameron and make it a 16-8 Florida lead.
A sacrifice fly out from Kurland in the seventh scored Strayer to extend the Gators’ lead to nine runs.
The Panthers plated three in the ninth, but Florida’s defense held on to take its eighth straight victory.
Game two of the midweek series will take place on Wednesday at Condron Family Ballpark with first pitch set for 6:00 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.
