![Florida's pitcher Liam Peterson (12) is the starter in the matchup against Alabama. Florida came back from being down 5-0 to beat Alabama 7-6, Friday, May 15, 2025, at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida. [Cyndi Chambers/ Gainesville Sun] 2025](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_553,w_4218,h_2372/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01kksz8r2epjxz4hv9f5.jpg "Florida's pitcher Liam Peterson (12) is the starter in the matchup against Alabama. Florida came back from being down 5-0 to beat Alabama 7-6, Friday, May 15, 2025, at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida. [Cyndi Chambers/ Gainesville Sun] 2025")
The Florida Gators opened SEC play in dominant fashion this weekend sweeping the South Carolina Gamecocks in three straight games. The Gators shutout South Carolina two nights in a row to open the series (1-0 Friday, 3-0 Saturday), and then though it wasn’t a shutout, Florida showed the meaning of “Only Gators get out alive” by drowning South Carolina on Sunday.
The Gators sweep of the Gamecocks was led by dominant pitching and big offensive hits when they counted.
Pitching led the way for Florida all weekend
Liam Peterson and Aidan King made the starts for Florida Friday and Saturday respectively.
Peterson on Friday threw six shutout innings and was near perfect, giving up just one hit, two walks, and struck out 10 as he continues to look strong. After giving up four earned runs on February 13, Peterson hasn’t given up more than two earned runs in an outing and on Friday threw six shutout innings. He has given up just 12 hits through 25 1/3 innings and has struck out 44, with 10+ strikeouts in three or more outings, including Friday.
The junior from Palm Harbor continues to climb the predicted MLB Draft “Big Board,” with an expectation to be selected in the mid-first round. He is continuing to prove why he is one of the top pitching prospects in this year’s draft.
Along with Peterson, King has been pitching like a king. He got the ball for the start on Saturday and also showed his dominance. He also threw six shutout innings and gave up just two hits, one walk, and struck out nine. If there’s one impressive stat about King, it’s that in five games pitched (22 1/3 innings), he has not given up a single earned run.
Yes, he’s had runs scored on his stat line, however of the eight runs that have been scored while he’s on the mound, none of them have been earned runs, but results of errors in the field, something that has plagued the Gators as of recently. King’s nine strikeouts on Saturday was the most he’s thrown this year, making it a season high.
King is also in the top-10 of MLB’s 2027 draft class and could be a first round pick next year.
Hitting showed up when it counted
Though the Gators didn’t do much offensively on Friday or Saturday, Brendan Lawson was 1-for-3 with a run scored on Saturday and 2-for-4 with two RBIs and four runs scored Sunday. The sophomore from Toronto, Ontario native was walked three times on Friday; on Saturday he doubled, and on Sunday he hit a double and a home run, and stole two bases on the weekend as well.
Ethan Surowiec had a strong offensive weekend as well. On Saturday Surowiec was 2-for-4 with a run scored and on Sunday he was 2-for-4, with two RBIs and a run scored.
Cash Strayer came up clutch on Sunday with a big grand slam. He was 1-for-2 with a run scored and five RBIs.
Strayer also represented Florida sole RBI on Friday, hitting an RBI single that scored Jones.
The Florida gators have started off SEC play in dominant fashion and sent the Gamecocks back to South Carolina with nothing to show.