![Florida infielder Brendan Lawson (11) hits his ninth homer of the season in the bottom of the sixth against FSU, March 10, 2026, at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida.The Gators beat the Seminoles 6-3. [Cyndi Chambers/ Gainesville Sun] 2026](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_152,w_2128,h_1197/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01krr9xzqr1czqd9nz2c.jpg "Florida infielder Brendan Lawson (11) hits his ninth homer of the season in the bottom of the sixth against FSU, March 10, 2026, at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida.The Gators beat the Seminoles 6-3. [Cyndi Chambers/ Gainesville Sun] 2026")
Florida is continuing its march toward a potential top-eight seed in the NCAA Tournament. While even getting a top 16 seed seemed unlikely a month ago, the Gators have won seven of their last eight games and are now threatening to be a Super Regional host.
LSU was also expected to be a Super Regional host when the season began, but the Tigers are having a season they would rather forget. And on Friday night, the Gators made sure to kick LSU while they are down, and one swing in particular from Florida might as well have made LSU pack up and go home.
Brendan Lawson hits a baseball almost 500 feet
Florida beat LSU 11-1 in seven innings to take game two of the series. The Gators picked up where they left off in game one and picked up two runs in the 1st inning for an early 2-0 lead.
But it was Brendan Lawson’s home run in the 2nd inning that had everyone buzzing and honestly would have been a moment where LSU would have turned off their Xbox had this been MLB The Show.
Lawson got a hold of a 1-2 pitch and sent it 496 feet into the Baton Rouge sky.
No, that’s not a misprint.
496-FOOT TANK FROM THE LAW ⚖️🤯
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) May 16, 2026
🎥 SECN+ pic.twitter.com/i1QeLzlMr4
In the Trackman Era, Lawson’s home run is the 2nd longest home run in Gator history, only trailing the 516-foot blast that Jac Caglianone had against Jacksonville in 2024. It is also the longest home run ever recorded at Alex Box Stadium.
The crazy part is that Lawson’s home run and the subsequent conga line of Florida hitters that put up 11 runs somewhat overshadowed the night Liam Peterson had. His 7.0 inning outing is now the first time in his career that he has made it at least 7.0 innings in back-to-back games. He gave up just one earned run while striking out 11 and walking just one.
Florida will go for the sweep on Saturday, and if they do, it will put them in the conversation for a top-eight seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Gators are sitting in 12th in RPI, and beating LSU isn’t going to boost that, but Florida also lays claim to the second-most Quad One wins in the country.
The regular season finale is set to get underway at LSU at 3 PM.
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