Gators and Noles renew rivalry on Tuesday night
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The No. 3 Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles will renew their annual rivalry on the diamond Tuesday night.
The Gators and Noles will play a trio of games this year. The first Tuesday night in Tallahassee. The teams will meet next week in Jacksonville (March 28) at 7:00 p.m. The series will conclude on April 11 in Gainesville at 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday pitching matchup
The Gators will send RHP Tyler Nesbitt (1-0, 1.17 ERA) to the mound. Florida State will counter with RHP Ben Barrett (0-0, 3.18 ERA).
This will be the third time Nesbitt has pitched against Florida State in his career. He has allowed one earned run in nine innings, giving up six hits and two walks while striking out nine. Nesbitt has made three appearances (two starts) this season and owns a 1.17 ERA, .172 batting average against and eight strikeouts vs. two walks in 7 2/3 frames.
Last week
The Gators finished last week with a 3-1 record last week. That included a 2-1 series win over No. 24 Alabama that featured a one hit, complete-game shutout from Brandon Sproat. The performance earned Sproat Co-SEC Pitcher of the Week honors.
The Noles struggled last week and dropped from the top-25 rankings after losing two of three at home over the weekend against Boston College (W 19-8, L 2-4, L 2-8). After being picked to finish tied-for-third in the ACC Atlantic Division, the Noles enter with a 12-8 record (3-3 ACC), but have lost four of their last five. FSU is batting .311/.381/.500 with 24 homers and 19 steals as a team while pitching to a 4.50 ERA and 221 strikeouts in 182 innings. Defensively, the Noles sport a .961 fielding percentage and have committed 30 errors.
Last time the Gators and Noles faced
Each of the last two years, Florida has finished the season series against Florida State with a walk-off home run at Condron Family Ballpark. Last year, the Gators entered the Gainesville game tied with one victory apiece after winning in Jacksonville (6-3) and falling in Tallahassee (5-0), before Sterlin Thompson delivered a 7-5 win on May 17 with his game-winning home run. In 2021, Kendrick Calilao provided the walk-off home run in the 10th inning.
Kevin O’Sullivan vs Florida State
UF is 32-19 vs. FSU under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan including wins in 19 of the last 23 meetings.
| Year | Florida Record vs FSU |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 1-3 (Lost in Tallahassee Regional) |
| 2009 | 2-1 |
| 2010 | 1-4 (Lost in CWS) |
| 2011 | 1-3 |
| 2012 | 3-0 |
| 2013 | 1-2 |
| 2014 | 3-0 |
| 2015 | 3-2 (Florida went 2-0 in Gainesville Super) |
| 2016 | 5-1 (Florida went 2-1 in Gainesville Super) |
| 2017 | 3-0 |
| 2018 | 3-0 |
| 2019 | 3-0 |
| 2020 (COVID Shortened season) | 0-1 |
| 2021 | 1-1 |
| 2022 | 2-1 |
| Total | Total: 32-19 |
