![Florida utility Caden McDonald (21) celebrates his home run against Texas A&M during an NCAA baseball game at Condron Family Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field in Gainesville, FL on Friday, April 24, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_2638,h_1483/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01kr68xe6df3qdwqcgf0.jpg "Florida utility Caden McDonald (21) celebrates his home run against Texas A&M during an NCAA baseball game at Condron Family Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field in Gainesville, FL on Friday, April 24, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
One of the very real flaws for Florida this season has been their self-inflicted wounds that lead to runs an SEC team shouldn’t be surrendering. The end result is a blueprint that forces Aidan King to be nearly perfect if the Gators want any hope of pulling out a series win.
Blame it on the rain, as the people who provided the vocals to Milli Vanilli once sang, as Friday’s game against Kentucky was delayed. Once it got going, it felt like one where it felt like Florida and Kentucky had swapped teams, as it was Kentucky that melted down late, and it helped Florida stage a massive comeback in game one of the three-game series.
Florida stages comeback to beat Kentucky
Friday was delayed by rain and didn’t get underway until 9:30. Whether it was the delay or not, King wasn’t as dominant as he has been all season. After two clean innings, the Wildcats tagged King for three runs in the 3rd inning and another in the 4th. King kept going into the 7th, but ran into more trouble before he was lifted. His night ended with 6.1 innings pitched and five earned runs.
Florida kept trying to keep pace, but left two runners on base in the 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th innings. In particular, Cade Kurland and Ethan Surowiec struck out to end the 6th and 7th innings.
It seemed like it was going to be one of those nights as Florida entered the bottom of the 8th down 6-1, but then the clock struck midnight, litteraly, and Kentucky turned into a pumpkin. Florida got a run back to make it 6-2 with one out and bases empty. Kurland struck out again, but the wild pitch enabled him to take first base. A single and a walk loaded the bases, and Brendan Lawson ripped a double. Two runs scored to make it 6-4, but then Kentucky did their best impression of Florida and had an error getting the ball in to allow Kyle Jones to score and make it 6-5.
A wild pitch then allowed Lawson to score, and Florida put up five runs in the inning to tie things at 6-6.
Then, in the bottom of the 9th, well past midnight, Carson Bowen hit a double, Florida eventually loaded the bases, and Kyle Jones came through with the game-winning walk-off single to win 7-6.
For Florida, the main mission is to win its final two series. Win one of the next two against Kentucky and take the series next week against a fading LSU squad, and Florida should lock up its place as a host for Regionals once the NCAA Tournament begins. Florida currently sits in 11th in RPI.
Game two against Kentucky is slated for 4PM on Saturday.
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