If you believe most pundits, Florida Baseball will need to win 12 SEC games to have a realistic shot at an at-large bid heading into the NCAA Tournament. The Gators entered their weekend set against Mississippi State at 4-11 in SEC play and desperately needed a series win to keep the train moving toward an at-large bid.
It took a while in Starkville, but once the bats got hot for Florida, they stayed hot as the Gators run-ruled the Bulldogs 13-3 to take game one of the series.
Florida Baseball stays hot
Liam Peterson got the start, and even though the basepaths stayed busy, he was able to keep Mississippi State away from rounding the bases. Peterson gave up three runs over six innings off seven hits and a walk. He had six strikeouts and the two home runs he gave up were both solo shots.
But the bats for Florida were struggling against Mississippi State starter Pico Kahn, and while Florida did scrape out two runs over five innings over Kahn, the Gators struggled to adjust to a strike zone that was extremely pitcher-friendly on the inside pitches.
Then pitcher Stone Simmons entered in the 6th, who had given up four runs all year and hadn't allowed a run in his previous six outings. Based on how things have gone for Florida in 2025, the script would have called for Florida's bats to shrink even more against great pitching and Florida would have lost this game 3-2.
But the Gators flipped that script and scored six runs off of Stone without recording an out, capped off by a three-run home run from Luke Heyman to make it 9-3.
Florida kept tacking on, and Brody Donay's homer in the 8th made it 13-3. Mississippi State loaded the bases in the bottom of the 8th, but Caden McDonald kept things scoreless to secure the win.
Florida is now on a six-game winning streak and is 5-11 in SEC play while 26-14 overall.
Both squads will be back at it tonight at 8:30 PM on ESPN.