The game that had been circled on both teams’ calendars finally arrived as the No. 20 Florida State Seminoles traveled to Gainesville to face the No. 23 Florida Gators. Florida State entered the matchup with a 13–2 record and a nine-game winning streak, hoping to continue its momentum and add another win to the streak. Florida, sitting at 14–3, looked to bounce back and regain confidence after a disappointing series loss to High Point University.
For both programs, this matchup was about more than just another game. Whenever Florida State and Florida meet, regardless of the sport, bragging rights and in-state supremacy are always on the line. Heading into the game, the all-time series between the two rivals was nearly even. The Seminoles held a narrow 135-129-1 advantage overall, including a 72-43-1 record at home in Tallahassee. However, Florida State had struggled historically in Gainesville with a 51-69 road record against the Gators, while the Seminoles were 13-16 in neutral-site meetings.
On the mound for Florida State was junior right-hander John Abraham (1-0, 0.66 ERA), who faced redshirt freshman Schuyler Sanford (1-0, 1.69 ERA) for Florida. Although both pitchers had already made six appearances this season, the game marked their first start of the 2026 campaign.
After a slow start to the game, Florida State struck first in the top of the second inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, junior Cal Fisher delivered a single to right center, bringing home Hunter Carns and Brayden Dowd to give the Seminoles an early 2-0 lead.
Florida responded in the bottom of the third inning. Ethan Surowiec started the rally with a single to left field that brought home Kyle Jones. The Gators’ offense continued to surge, adding four more runs in the inning to take a commanding 5-2 lead.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Seminoles were able to close the gap. Will Bavaro singled to center field, bringing in Eli Putnam to make it a 5-3 ballgame.
The Gators added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Brendan Lawson homered to deep right field, extending Florida’s lead to 6-3. The home run proved to be the final blow, as the Gators held on to secure the victory.
By the numbers, Florida State finished the game with six hits, zero errors, and eight runners left on base. Florida also recorded six hits with zero errors, leaving nine runners on base.
The game was effectively won on the mound for Florida. The Gators struck out Florida State 18 times, with 16 of those strikeouts coming in the final five innings from Florida’s relief pitchers.
Florida now leads the three-game series 1-0. The next meeting between the two teams will take place on March 24 in Jacksonville, Florida.
Before the rivals meet again, both teams have busy schedules ahead. Florida State will travel for a series against Wake Forest before returning home for a game against Bethune-Cookman and a series against NC State. Florida will host a series against South Carolina and a game against Stetson before heading on the road for a series against Alabama.
After the game, I and other members of the media went down to the field and asked Florida State head coach Link Jarrett about his thoughts on the matchup. He opened the postgame press conference by saying, “Unfortunate outcome. I really tip my hat to the caliber of arm they ran at us, and I think we punched out 11 of our 13 at-bats, which is difficult. If you are going to have that sort of offensive performance, you’ve got to do something to offset it on the mound.”
When asked about the pitching performance and whether he saw any positives, Jarrett said, “I thought Stokes facing the lefties, he hadn’t looked quite as sharp against the left-handed hitter, so to come in and get the first two lefties and punch those guys out, that was great.”
Later in the press conference, Jarrett was asked what message he would give the team moving forward as they prepare for ACC play. He responded, “Well, they need to be comfortable in this environment. There are a lot of young guys that haven’t been through this that have played, especially on the position side, so take this in. I didn’t think it really fazed them.”
Even though it was just the first game of the season between these two teams, it once again showed the intensity and rivalry that exists whenever Florida State and Florida face off.
