FINAL
Florida 13
Mississippi State 3
UPDATES
Bottom of the eighth inning;
– Stallman flies out to left field; leaving three on base and handing Florida a 13-3 win in eight innings
– Cupp pinch hitting for Sanders; strikes out swinging
– Chance strikes out swinging
–Spalitta singles, sending Reese to third and Sullivan to second
– Sullivan is walked
– Reese doubles down the left field line
–Caden McDonald (RHP) comes in for Barlow
Top of the eighth inning; 13-3 Florida
– Nadeau out at first
– Wilson strikes out swinging
– Yost lines out to left field
– Donay homers to left center, sending Cyr home. 13-3 Florida
– Cyr is walked
Bottom of the seventh inning; 11-3 Florida
– Reeves flies out to right field
– Frei strikes out swinging
– Powell strikes out swinging
– Stallman singles to right field
– Billy Barlow (RHP) comes in for Peterson
Top of the seventh inning; 11-3 Florida
– Heyman reaches first on a fielder's choice; Shelton out at second
– Lawson sac fly to center; Boser scores. 11-3 Florida
– Shelton singles through the right side; Boser advances to third
– Boser steals second
– Boser reaches first on a fielder's choice to second; Wilson scores. 10-3 Florida
– Wilson steals third
– Nadeau strikes out looking
–Kevin Mannell (RHP) in for Hungate
– Wilson doubles down the third base line
Bottom of the sixth inning; 9-3 Florida
– Sanders strikes out swinging; grounds out to catcher
– Chance flies out to center
– Hines strikes out swinging
Top of the sixth inning; 9-3 Florida
– Yost reaches first on fielder's choice; Donay out at second
– Donay singles through the right side
– Cyr strikes out looking
–Heyman three-run dinger. 9-3 Florida
– Lawson grounds out to pitcher
–Shelton doubles to center; Nadeau scores and Boser advances to third. 6-3 Florida
– Boser doubles down the right field line; Wilson scores and Nadeau advances to third. 5-3 Florida
– Nadeau singles; Yost scores and Wilson advances to second. 4-3 Florida
– Wilson singles down the third base line on a bunt; Yost advances to third
– Yost doubles to right center, sending Donay home. Tie game, 3-3
– Donay singles through the left side
– Stone Simmons (RHP) coming in for Kohn
Bottom of the fifth inning; 3-2 Mississippi State
– Sullivan flies out to left center
– Reese is walked after an offensive timeout
– Reeves strikes out swinging
– Frei out at first
Top of the fifth inning; 3-2 Mississippi State
– Cyr strikes out looking
–Shelton scores on a wild pitch to Cyr; Heyman to second. 3-2 Mississippi State
– Heyman reaches first on fielder's choice; Shelton advances to third and Lawson is out at second
– Lawson singles through the right side; Shelton advances to second
– Shelton singles through the right side
– Boser strikes out looking
Bottom of the fourth inning; 3-1 Mississippi State
– Powell lines out to center
– Stallman solo shot to right. 3-1 Mississippi State
– Sanders flies out to right center
– Chance strikes out swinging
Top of the fourth inning; 2-1 Mississippi State
– Nadeau strikes out swinging
– Wilson strikes out looking
– Yost singles to right field; steals second
– Donay strikes out swinging
Bottom of the third inning; 2-1 Mississippi State
– Hines grounds out to second
– Sullivan grounds into a double play
– Reese singles up the middle
Top of the third inning; 2-1 Mississippi State
– Cyr strikes out swinging
– Heyman strikes out swinging
– Lawson reaches first on fiielder's choice; Shelton out at second
– Shelton is walked
Bottom of the second inning; 2-1 Mississippi State
– Reeves lines out to center
– Frei singles; Powell advances to third
–Powell reaches first on fielder's choice; Chance scores and Stallman is out at second. 2-1 Mississippi State
– Stallman singles through the right side; Chance advances to third
– Sanders strikes out swinging
– Chance singles up the middle
Top of the second inning; 1-1
– Boser strikes out swinging; grounds out to catcher
– Nadeau singles to left field; Yost advances to second
– Wilson strikes out looking
– Yost is walked
– Donay solo shot down the right field line. 1-1
– Cyr grounds out to third
Bottom of the first inning; 1-0 Mississippi State
– Hines strikes out swinging
– Sullivan singles through the left side
– Reese lines out to right field
– Reeves grounds out to shortstop
– Frei homers down the right field line on Peterson's first pitch. 1-0 Mississippi State
Top of the first inning; 0-0
– Heyman pops up down the right field line
– Lawson doubles down the left field line
– Shelton strikes out swinging
– Boser strikes out looking
FLORIDA LINEUP
3B Bobby Boser
SS Colby Shelton
1B Brendan Lawson
C Luke Heyman
LF Blake Cyr
DH Brody Donay
CF Hayden Yost
RF Ashton Wilson
2B Justin Nadeau
Starting pitcher:RHP Liam Peterson (5-2, 3.63 ERA)
MISSISSIPPI STATE LINEUP
LF Gehrig Frei
SS Sawyer Reeves
3B Ace Reese
DH Noah Sullivan
1B Hunter Hines
CF Bryce Chance
2B Gatlin Sanders
RF Reed Stallman
C Joe Powell
Starting pitcher:LHPPico Kohn(4-1, 3.26 ERA)
PREGAME NOTES
– Florida(25-14, 4-11 SEC) heads to Starkville this weekend for the Gators' sixth Southeastern Conference series of the season, at Mississippi State(23-14, 5-10 SEC).
– The series will open Friday night at 8 p.m. ET, set to broadcast on SEC Network.ESPN will cover game two on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET while Sunday's finale airs on ESPN2 at 3 p.m. ET.
– The Gators have won each of their last two series against the Bulldogs. Florida took two out of three in Gainesville last season (W 7-6, L 12-2, W 4-3) and delivered a sweep in the team's most-recent visit to Dudy Noble Field from May 6-8, 2022 (8-6, 9-3, 6-2). The Gators have claimed seven of the last eight matchups, backed by a 25-13 overall record and 9-6 road mark in the series under head coach Kevin O'Sullivan. Across 124 all-time meetings, Florida leads the series, 72-52, featuring a 30-25 record in Starkville.
– Florida enters the series on a five-game winning streak, after defeating No. 9 Florida State (W, 5-4), sweeping Missouri (11-2, 5-0, 3-2) and most recently run-ruling Stetson (14-4) in seven frames.
– Through 39 games, Florida remains ranked inside the top-50 teams nationally across 10 statistical categories. Led by the fifth-most strikeouts per nine innings (11.8) in the country, the Gators also rank 11th in shutouts thrown (four), 12th in fielding percentage (.981), 16th in home runs (61), 29th in slugging percentage (.515), 29th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.57), 37th in hits allowed per nine innings (8.24), 42nd in hit-by-pitches (65), 45th in hits (372) and 46th in doubles (77). Florida's four shutouts thrown sit second in the SEC behind Vanderbilt's five.
– Florida's retooled lineup features five qualified hitters with an OPS above .930 and batting average over .300 in catcher/designated hitter Brody Donay (1.142, .327), Boser (1.077, .327), infielder Colby Shelton (1.044, .370), infielder Brendan Lawson (.992, .313) and Heyman (.931, .304). Those five players have accounted for 72.1% of the Gators' home runs this season (44 of 61) and 60.1% of run production (161 of 268 RBI).
– Ranked as Baseball America's top college pitcher for the 2026 MLB Draft at No. 3 overall, right-handed pitcher Liam Peterson takes a 3.63 ERA and .236 batting average against into his weekend start in Starkville. Peterson's 13.8 K/9 ranks third in the SEC (behind Tennessee'sLiam Doyleand LSU's Kade Anderson) and ninth nationally, as the right-hander has fanned 61 batters in 39 2/3 frames. A major component in his 2025 success has lain in his ability to limit the long ball, reducing his home runs per nine down to 0.5 this season from a 2.1-mark one year ago.
–Mississippi State enters the week with a 23-14 overall record, including a 5-10 mark in SEC play. The Bulldogs are coming off an impressive series win over No. 15 Alabama but currently sit 13th in the conference standings, just one spot ahead of the Gators. Mississippi State has been solid offensively, posting a .301/.404/.521 slash line with 58 home runs and 36 stolen bases through 37 games. On the mound, the pitching staff owns a 3.65 ERA, tallying 412 strikeouts against 117 walks over 308.0 innings. Defensively, the Bulldogs have committed 37 errors for a .970 fielding percentage on the season.
