Tuesday marks the first meeting between Florida and UCF in Orlando since 2018.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 7 Florida enters its final full week of non-conference play with midweek matchups at UCF of the Big 12 Conference and at home vs. Florida Atlantic of the American Athletic.
The Gators (11-1) travel to Orlando, Fla. on Tuesday to face UCF (8-3) at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. Florida then hosts FAU (10-1) at Condron Family Ballpark on Wednesday at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Tuesday marks the Gators' first trip to John Euliano Park since 2018, with Florida leading the all-time series vs. UCF at 28-21 overall and 8-7 on the road. Under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan, the Gators are 11-8 overall and 3-4 in Orlando.
Florida also leads the all-time series vs. FAU, 27-10, backed by a 21-8 home mark. The Gators are 14-5 overall and 11-5 at home against the Owls under O'Sullivan.
Pitching Matchups
Tuesday | 6 ET (ESPN+)
Wednesday | 6 ET (SECN+)
Florida RHP Matthew Jenkins (0-0, 10.80 ERA) TBA
UCF/FAU RHP Angelo Smith (0-0, 1.50 ERA) TBA
GATORS IN THE POLLS
Florida moved up one spot from No. 8 to No. 7 in the D1Baseball Top 25 after going 4-1 last week with a series win over Miami. The Gators are a unanimous top-10 team and are ranked as highly as No. 6 in the country per Baseball America.
SULLY SUPERLATIVES
Coming off the program's 14th trip to the College World Series and second in as many seasons, O'Sullivan enters his 18th campaign. Since O'Sullivan's 2008 arrival, Florida leads the sport with 290 SEC wins, 37 MLB debuts, 16 NCAA berths (T-1st), 10 top-eight seeds, nine College World Series trips, nine Super Regionals hosted and six SEC titles. The Gators have advanced to nine of the last 14 College World Series overall.
GET TO KNOW THE KNIGHTS
After going 37-21 (14-15 Big 12) in Head Coach Rich Wallace's first season last year, UCF was picked to finish seventh out of 14 teams in the 2025 Big 12 Preseason Poll. Off to an 8-3 start to the campaign, the Knights are batting .332/.446/.519 as a team with 15 homers and 11 stolen bases. UCF has pitched to a 2.82 ERA, .219 batting average against and 101 strikeouts to 35 walks in 92 2/3 frames. The Knights' .979 fielding percentage comes in just behind Florida's .980 mark.
OUTLOOK ON THE OWLS
Having been ranked sixth out of 10 teams in the AAC Preseason Coaches Poll, FAU is hoping to return to the postseason following a 28-29 (12-15 AAC) resume one year ago. The Owls are off to a strong start, owning a 10-1 record to go with a .322/.442/.508 team batting line highlighted by 14 long balls and 15 steals. Florida Atlantic has worked to a 3.51 ERA and .241 BAA on the mound while fanning 110 batters to 37 free passes in 100.0 frames.
LAST TIME OUT
Florida went 4-1 over five games last week, defeating Stetson (6-1) and North Florida (7-6) in midweek affairs before taking two out of three against rival Miami (W 6-2, W 6-3, L 13-7). Although the Gators suffered their first loss of the season to Miami in game three, they won their 10th series in the last 11 against the Canes. Florida's season-opening, 11-game winning streak tied for the second-best start in team history behind the 2020 campaign (16-0).
GATOR NATION SETTING ATTENDANCE RECORDS
Sunday's crowd of 7,316 vs. Miami brought the total series attendance to a program-record 23,737 for a three-game set. On Saturday, Condron Family Ballpark welcomed a program-record crowd 9,303 fans for game two alone, marking the largest on-campus crowd for a baseball game in the history of the state of Florida.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
After 12 games, Florida is ranked inside the top-20 teams nationally across a whopping 12 statistical categories, headlined by the third-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.35) and fifth-most strikeouts per nine innings (13.3) in the country. The Gators also rank ninth in win-loss percentage (.917), 10th in WHIP (1.05), 12th in walks allowed per nine (3.00), 14th in home runs (21), 15th in hits (134), 16th in slugging percentage (.565), 16th in stolen bases (29), 16th in hits allowed per nine (6.44), 17th in doubles (30) and 19th in ERA (2.91).
KING OF THE CONFERENCE
Florida freshman Aidan King was honored as the SEC Pitcher of the Week on Monday, giving the Gators a third-straight conference award winner to open the season. Across two appearances against Stetson (Feb. 25) and Miami (March 1), King went 2-0 by firing a combined 6 1/3 shutout, one-hit innings on one walk and seven strikeouts. King is the first true freshman to be named the SEC's sole recipient of Pitcher of the Week since Tennessee's Drew Beam on April 4, 2022. On the season, the right-hander is 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA, .184 batting average against and 12-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 10 1/3 innings pitched.
BOBBY BASEBALL BLASTS
Repping a .370/.483/.761 slash line for a 1.244 OPS, infielder Bobby Boser has started all 12 games in the Florida infield. Blasting homers in each of the game one and two wins over Miami, Boser ranks second on the Gators with five home runs on top of three doubles, a team-high 16 runs and 14 RBI – tied with freshman phenom Brendan Lawson for the team lead. Boser has also swiped four bags in four attempts and owns as many walks (eight) as strikeouts.
REPECT THE B-LAW
As the first UF rookie to collect an SEC Weekly award, Lawson was named SEC Freshman of the Week back on Feb. 24. Refusing to slow down, the Toronto native remained red hot as evidenced by a .444/.542/.833 batting line over five games last week. Starting all 12 contests for Florida this season, Lawson has delivered a robust 1.029 OPS to go with a .357/.481/.548 slash, two homers, 14 runs and three stolen bases. Perhaps most impressively, the budding star has a 1.000 fielding percentage over 88 chances at first base in his career debut at the position.
LINEUP LENGTH
Florida's lineup has showed incredible length and depth to open the season. All eight qualified UF hitters wield an OPS above .770. The Gators also have six qualified hitters batting over .320 with a .950-plus OPS. That does not even take into account non-qualifiers such as utilityman Justin Nadeau (.429 AVG, .996 OPS) and infielder Landon Stripling(.348 AVG, .929 OPS). Looking at consistency, three Gators have reached base in all 12 games in outfielder Blake Cyr, infielder Colby Shelton and Boser. Following closely behind, Lawson and catcher/designated hitter Brody Donay have reached safely in 11 in a row.
The Gators have knocked at least eight hits in all 12 games and 10-plus in nine of 12. Florida has launched at least one homer in all 12 contests.
THE BIG PITCH
Florida pitchers have produced a 148-to-34 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 12 games. In Sunday's finale against Miami, the Gators allowed more than six runs for the first time all year (13).
DONAY DEMOS
Having cranked six homers on the season, Donay enters the midweek tied for 10th nationally and third in the SEC in big flies. The slugger leads the Gators in every slash category (.432/.571/1.000) on top of being a perfect 3-for-3 on steals and tallying as many walks (eight) as strikeouts.
JENKINS' FIRST START
Coming to Florida from Santa Fe College this past offseason, sophomore right-hander Matthew Jenkins will make his first-career start on Tuesday at UCF. It will be his fourth appearance in Orange & Blue, previously pitching in relief against Air Force (Feb. 15), Dayton (Feb. 22) and North Florida (Feb. 26). Jenkins has limited opposing hitters to a .231 batting average across his first 3 1/3 innings.
PARKING/SHUTTLES
Fans are encouraged to park at the Fifield and IFAS lots during the weekend. An increased number of shuttles will be available for transportation to the ballpark each day. No parking is permitted anywhere on the grass, sidewalks, or along streets. Doing so runs the risk of receiving a parking citation.
* General Parking is available in the main Condron Family Ballpark baseball lot, the small lot in front of the Donald R. Dizney Stadium and the Fifield Hall parking lot located directly across Hull Road.
* Additional parking is available at:
* UF Facilities Services lot off Radio Rd
* Maguire Village Lot off Bledsoe Dr
* Disabled parking is available on a first-come, first-serve basis in the Condron Family Ballpark west lot with a valid Disabled Placard.
* RV Parking is available in the Fifield Flat lot. Reserved RV parking is not available for Florida baseball games. All motor home parking is on a first come, first-served basis.
* On-board generators are permitted, however exterior or pull-along generators are prohibited at all times. For safety reasons, all motor homes/RVs are required to utilize exhaust extensions or "smoke stacks" to channel exhaust fumes to the top of the motor home/RV.
* Overnight stays are only allowed on weekend series in the Fifield Flat lot.
* Do Not Park Illegally
* No parking on grass, sidewalks, or along streets. Doing so runs the risk of receiving a parking citation.
* Park in designated parking spots (Do not park on grass or in No Parking Zones).
* Vehicles are subject to towing if they block streets, sidewalks, service drives, or fire lanes, or if illegally parked in a disabled space.
ON DECK
The Gators host Harvard of the Ivy League in their final non-conference series this weekend from March 7-9. The opener is set for Friday night at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 7 Florida enters its final full week of non-conference play with midweek matchups at UCF of the Big 12 Conference and at home vs. Florida Atlantic of the American Athletic.
The Gators (11-1) travel to Orlando, Fla. on Tuesday to face UCF (8-3) at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. Florida then hosts FAU (10-1) at Condron Family Ballpark on Wednesday at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Tuesday marks the Gators' first trip to John Euliano Park since 2018, with Florida leading the all-time series vs. UCF at 28-21 overall and 8-7 on the road. Under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan, the Gators are 11-8 overall and 3-4 in Orlando.
Florida also leads the all-time series vs. FAU, 27-10, backed by a 21-8 home mark. The Gators are 14-5 overall and 11-5 at home against the Owls under O'Sullivan.
Pitching Matchups
Tuesday | 6 ET (ESPN+)
Wednesday | 6 ET (SECN+)
Florida RHP Matthew Jenkins (0-0, 10.80 ERA) TBA
UCF/FAU RHP Angelo Smith (0-0, 1.50 ERA) TBA
GATORS IN THE POLLS
Florida moved up one spot from No. 8 to No. 7 in the D1Baseball Top 25 after going 4-1 last week with a series win over Miami. The Gators are a unanimous top-10 team and are ranked as highly as No. 6 in the country per Baseball America.
SULLY SUPERLATIVES
Coming off the program's 14th trip to the College World Series and second in as many seasons, O'Sullivan enters his 18th campaign. Since O'Sullivan's 2008 arrival, Florida leads the sport with 290 SEC wins, 37 MLB debuts, 16 NCAA berths (T-1st), 10 top-eight seeds, nine College World Series trips, nine Super Regionals hosted and six SEC titles. The Gators have advanced to nine of the last 14 College World Series overall.
GET TO KNOW THE KNIGHTS
After going 37-21 (14-15 Big 12) in Head Coach Rich Wallace's first season last year, UCF was picked to finish seventh out of 14 teams in the 2025 Big 12 Preseason Poll. Off to an 8-3 start to the campaign, the Knights are batting .332/.446/.519 as a team with 15 homers and 11 stolen bases. UCF has pitched to a 2.82 ERA, .219 batting average against and 101 strikeouts to 35 walks in 92 2/3 frames. The Knights' .979 fielding percentage comes in just behind Florida's .980 mark.
OUTLOOK ON THE OWLS
Having been ranked sixth out of 10 teams in the AAC Preseason Coaches Poll, FAU is hoping to return to the postseason following a 28-29 (12-15 AAC) resume one year ago. The Owls are off to a strong start, owning a 10-1 record to go with a .322/.442/.508 team batting line highlighted by 14 long balls and 15 steals. Florida Atlantic has worked to a 3.51 ERA and .241 BAA on the mound while fanning 110 batters to 37 free passes in 100.0 frames.
LAST TIME OUT
Florida went 4-1 over five games last week, defeating Stetson (6-1) and North Florida (7-6) in midweek affairs before taking two out of three against rival Miami (W 6-2, W 6-3, L 13-7). Although the Gators suffered their first loss of the season to Miami in game three, they won their 10th series in the last 11 against the Canes. Florida's season-opening, 11-game winning streak tied for the second-best start in team history behind the 2020 campaign (16-0).
GATOR NATION SETTING ATTENDANCE RECORDS
Sunday's crowd of 7,316 vs. Miami brought the total series attendance to a program-record 23,737 for a three-game set. On Saturday, Condron Family Ballpark welcomed a program-record crowd 9,303 fans for game two alone, marking the largest on-campus crowd for a baseball game in the history of the state of Florida.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
After 12 games, Florida is ranked inside the top-20 teams nationally across a whopping 12 statistical categories, headlined by the third-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.35) and fifth-most strikeouts per nine innings (13.3) in the country. The Gators also rank ninth in win-loss percentage (.917), 10th in WHIP (1.05), 12th in walks allowed per nine (3.00), 14th in home runs (21), 15th in hits (134), 16th in slugging percentage (.565), 16th in stolen bases (29), 16th in hits allowed per nine (6.44), 17th in doubles (30) and 19th in ERA (2.91).
KING OF THE CONFERENCE
Florida freshman Aidan King was honored as the SEC Pitcher of the Week on Monday, giving the Gators a third-straight conference award winner to open the season. Across two appearances against Stetson (Feb. 25) and Miami (March 1), King went 2-0 by firing a combined 6 1/3 shutout, one-hit innings on one walk and seven strikeouts. King is the first true freshman to be named the SEC's sole recipient of Pitcher of the Week since Tennessee's Drew Beam on April 4, 2022. On the season, the right-hander is 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA, .184 batting average against and 12-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 10 1/3 innings pitched.
BOBBY BASEBALL BLASTS
Repping a .370/.483/.761 slash line for a 1.244 OPS, infielder Bobby Boser has started all 12 games in the Florida infield. Blasting homers in each of the game one and two wins over Miami, Boser ranks second on the Gators with five home runs on top of three doubles, a team-high 16 runs and 14 RBI – tied with freshman phenom Brendan Lawson for the team lead. Boser has also swiped four bags in four attempts and owns as many walks (eight) as strikeouts.
REPECT THE B-LAW
As the first UF rookie to collect an SEC Weekly award, Lawson was named SEC Freshman of the Week back on Feb. 24. Refusing to slow down, the Toronto native remained red hot as evidenced by a .444/.542/.833 batting line over five games last week. Starting all 12 contests for Florida this season, Lawson has delivered a robust 1.029 OPS to go with a .357/.481/.548 slash, two homers, 14 runs and three stolen bases. Perhaps most impressively, the budding star has a 1.000 fielding percentage over 88 chances at first base in his career debut at the position.
LINEUP LENGTH
Florida's lineup has showed incredible length and depth to open the season. All eight qualified UF hitters wield an OPS above .770. The Gators also have six qualified hitters batting over .320 with a .950-plus OPS. That does not even take into account non-qualifiers such as utilityman Justin Nadeau (.429 AVG, .996 OPS) and infielder Landon Stripling(.348 AVG, .929 OPS). Looking at consistency, three Gators have reached base in all 12 games in outfielder Blake Cyr, infielder Colby Shelton and Boser. Following closely behind, Lawson and catcher/designated hitter Brody Donay have reached safely in 11 in a row.
The Gators have knocked at least eight hits in all 12 games and 10-plus in nine of 12. Florida has launched at least one homer in all 12 contests.
THE BIG PITCH
Florida pitchers have produced a 148-to-34 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 12 games. In Sunday's finale against Miami, the Gators allowed more than six runs for the first time all year (13).
DONAY DEMOS
Having cranked six homers on the season, Donay enters the midweek tied for 10th nationally and third in the SEC in big flies. The slugger leads the Gators in every slash category (.432/.571/1.000) on top of being a perfect 3-for-3 on steals and tallying as many walks (eight) as strikeouts.
JENKINS' FIRST START
Coming to Florida from Santa Fe College this past offseason, sophomore right-hander Matthew Jenkins will make his first-career start on Tuesday at UCF. It will be his fourth appearance in Orange & Blue, previously pitching in relief against Air Force (Feb. 15), Dayton (Feb. 22) and North Florida (Feb. 26). Jenkins has limited opposing hitters to a .231 batting average across his first 3 1/3 innings.
PARKING/SHUTTLES
Fans are encouraged to park at the Fifield and IFAS lots during the weekend. An increased number of shuttles will be available for transportation to the ballpark each day. No parking is permitted anywhere on the grass, sidewalks, or along streets. Doing so runs the risk of receiving a parking citation.
* General Parking is available in the main Condron Family Ballpark baseball lot, the small lot in front of the Donald R. Dizney Stadium and the Fifield Hall parking lot located directly across Hull Road.
* Additional parking is available at:
* UF Facilities Services lot off Radio Rd
* Maguire Village Lot off Bledsoe Dr
* Disabled parking is available on a first-come, first-serve basis in the Condron Family Ballpark west lot with a valid Disabled Placard.
* RV Parking is available in the Fifield Flat lot. Reserved RV parking is not available for Florida baseball games. All motor home parking is on a first come, first-served basis.
* On-board generators are permitted, however exterior or pull-along generators are prohibited at all times. For safety reasons, all motor homes/RVs are required to utilize exhaust extensions or "smoke stacks" to channel exhaust fumes to the top of the motor home/RV.
* Overnight stays are only allowed on weekend series in the Fifield Flat lot.
* Do Not Park Illegally
* No parking on grass, sidewalks, or along streets. Doing so runs the risk of receiving a parking citation.
* Park in designated parking spots (Do not park on grass or in No Parking Zones).
* Vehicles are subject to towing if they block streets, sidewalks, service drives, or fire lanes, or if illegally parked in a disabled space.
ON DECK
The Gators host Harvard of the Ivy League in their final non-conference series this weekend from March 7-9. The opener is set for Friday night at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.
