Florida baseball will get another late-season test when it plays its final SEC road series of the season over the weekend at No. 1 Texas.
It’s the first regular-season matchup between the two schools, though they have squared off four times at the College World Series in Omaha, with the series tied 2-2. In the last meeting, the Florida Gators beat Texas 6-1 in the 2018 CWS.
The Longhorns (39-8, 19-5) have made a successful first-year transition to the SEC under first-year coach Jim Schlossnagle, who left rival Texas A&M to take over Texas during the offseason. Texas is two games ahead of No. 2 Arkansas for first place in the conference with six league games remaining, but were just swept by the Razorbacks last weekend.
“They are playing a really clean brand of baseball,” Florida baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “They don’t beat themselves. They pitch, they hit, they play defense.”
Texas got back in the win column with a 9-3 win over Lamar on Tuesday. The Longhorns are led by slugging catcher Rylan Galvan, who is batting .317 with 13 home runs, 12 doubles and 41 RBIs.
Florida (33-17, 11-13) remains without shortstop Colby Shelton, who is dealing with a hand injury that will likely sideline him until the start of NCAA Regionals.
“It’s just a hamate,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s basically what they did was just take the bone out so it’s just a matter of letting that incision heal. The timeline for that is different for everybody … whether that’s two weeks or three weeks I don’t know. It all comes down to if that incision heals.”
The Gators have won four straight SEC series and 13 of their last 16 games overall to bounce back from a 1-11 league start.
Florida baseball vs Texas: Live score updates
Florida baseball vs Texas game results
Game 1, Florida 8, Texas 2: Hayden Yost went 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs and Justin Nadeau went 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs, lifting Florida to the win. Lefty Pierce Coppola (3-0) pitched two scoreless innings to earn the win.
Game 2, Texas 5, Florida 2: Florida took and early 2-0 lead before Texas rallied for five runs in the sixth inning after a rain delay, taking the lead. Ashton Wilson went 1 for 3 with an RBI for the Gators while Landon Stripling went 1 for 3 with an RBI. Righty Matthew Jenkins (0-2) took the loss for UF, allowing two runs over 1/3 inning.
Game 3, Florida 4, Texas 1: Freshman Aidan King (5-2) pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits with nine strikeouts to lift the Gators to the series win over the Longhorns. Catcher Luke Heyman went 2 for 5 with an RBI to lead the offense, and first baseman Brody Donay belted his 14th home run of the season, a solo shot that put UF up 3-0 in the sixth inning.
How to watch Florida baseball vs Texas
Florida’s game vs No. 1 Texas on Friday night will air on ESPNU. The Saturday and Sunday afternoon games between the two schools will air on SEC Network+.
Florida baseball vs Texas start times
Game 1, Friday, May 9: 7:30 p.m. ET
Game 2, Saturday, May 10: 2 p.m. ET
Game 3, Sunday, May 11: 2 p.m. ET
Who is pitching for Florida baseball vs Texas?
Friday: LHP Pierce Coppola (2-0, 1.32 ERA) vs. RHP Ruger Rojas (8-2, 4.19 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Liam Peterson (8-2, 4.09 ERA) vs. LHP Luke Harrison (4-1, 3.25 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Aidan King (4-2, 3.29 ERA) vs. RHP Jason Flores (4-1, 2.40 ERA)
Florida baseball schedule 2025: Next five games
May 15-17: vs. No. 20 Alabama
SEC Tournament May 20-25: TBD, Hoover, Ala.
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida baseball vs No. 1 Texas score today: UF takes three-game series from UT with win on Sunday
Reporting by Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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