Thursday was an exciting day for Florida Gators athletics. The Gator baseball team defeated Auburn to take game one of a three-game series and the Florida Gators gymnastics squad clinched their title to a date with the LSU Tigers in the 2026 NCAA Gymnastics National Championships.
Gymnastics heading to the finals
A year ago, Florida Gymnastics crashed and burned out of the National Semifinals and didn't even make the finals, so Thursday was a shot at redemption. Competing against LSU, Georgia, and Stanford in round one of the 2026 National Semifinals in Fort Worth, Texas. The top two moved on to the finals.
In rotation one, they finished with a 49.4625 score, following with a 49.4375 after the second rotation (floor), a 49.2250 after three rotations (Vault), and a 49.6625 after the Bars rotation.
On Bars, Riley McCusker scored a 9.9875 near-perfect score, while teammate Selena Harris-Miranda scored a 9.9250. Skye Blakely also smashed the bars with a 9.9750 as the Gators flew their way to victory.
With her 9.9875 on Bars, Riley McCusker now leads the University of Florida in NCAA semifinal bars score.
They finished on top over LSU, Georgia, and Stanford with a total score of 197.7875, punching their ticket to the finals!
The 2026 National Gymnastics Championships will take place on Saturday, April 18 at 4:00PM EST. It will be Oklahoma, LSU, and Minnesota will join the Gators. The Sooners have won three of the last four national titles.
Aidan King dominates Auburn
The No. 7/20 Gators were led by Aidan King to a 6-3 upset over the No. 6/13 Auburn Tigers at Condron Family Ballpark. King dazzled once again, pitching six innings, giving up just one earned run on three hits two walks, and struck out eight. He earned his sixth with of the year and improved his ERA to 1.71.
At the plate, Ethan Surowiec was 2-for-5 with a run scored; Kyle Jones drove in two RBIs, Brendan Lawson was 1-for-3 with two runs scored; Karson Bowen drove in one, but it was Blake Cyr who stayed hot with a three-run home run that sent the Gators to victory.
The Gators and Tigers continue their series on Friday with first pitch scheduled for 5:30PM on the SEC Network. It will be Liam Peterson (1-2, 3.60 ERA) on the mound against Jake Marciano (3-2, 1.88 ERA).
The Gators (10-6) have now won nine of their last eleven SEC series, and are 24-10 in their last 34 conference games. They are now sitting just one game behind the Georgia bulldogs (11-5).
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