Aidan King Emerging as One of SEC's Best Pitchers: 'Beyond His Years with Maturity'

Aidan King has 17 strikeouts over his last two starts to help the Florida Gators down two ranked opponents.

Florida Gators freshman Aidan King has emerged as one of the top pitchers in the SEC after a recent string of performances. | Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida Gators starting pitcher Aidan King carried his dominant pitching from a weekend ago against Texas over into Saturday's series finale versus Alabama at Condron Family Ballpark. 

The freshman right-hander went 6 ⅓ innings, allowing just one earned run (three runs total) while striking out eight batters. He may have extended this outing even further if not for some defensive mistakes behind him.  

“Truly remarkable, honestly, to keep his composure like that, but he's shown time and time again that he's beyond his years with his maturity,” Gators head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Two great, great starts in a row against two ranked teams.”

King 👑 K 8️⃣#GoGators // SECN+ pic.twitter.com/oIuvZboahN

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) May 17, 2025

Just a weekend ago, King was called upon in the rubber match against former No. 1 Texas and rose to the occasion. He threw a career-high seven innings and struck out a career-best nine batters while also shutting the Longhorns out in his time on the mound. 

Having this type of day against one of the best teams in the country cannot be understated, either. It can boost the confidence of anyone, let alone a true freshman in his first run in the SEC, which King noted. 

“It was huge,” he said. “Knowing I can go out there and compete with the number one team in the nation and go in and do it each week is important.”

These two performances earned high praise from his head coach as well. 

“I think Aidan and I think Brendan [Lawson], they don't get talked about enough,” O’Sullivan said. “I honestly believe that. I don't think they get quite the notoriety as some of these other freshmen in our league. We certainly wouldn’t be in this position without both of their contributions.”

Career-high 9️⃣ strikeouts for AK❗#GoGators // SECN+ pic.twitter.com/PSmDjVdYpH

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) May 11, 2025

Gators infielder Bobby Boser also commended his teammate after Florida's 9-3 win over Alabama, which clinched the team's sixth-straight series victory. 

“He’s not like most freshmen,” Boser said. “That kid, he can chuck the ball. He knows what he can do. He does it, and he just repeats it. When you got that in a freshman, that shows a lot of confidence and a lot of balls to get out there and do that.”

One noticeable trait about King this season has been his ability to remain composed on the mound and not let the little things impact his pitching. Whether that be an error from the guys behind him or not throwing a strike, he has kept his focus on the task at hand and not dwell too much on the past. 

This was important on Saturday against the Crimson Tide, with the Gators committing four errors in the contest. 

“Just trusting them,” he said. “Just the belief that they're going to make the plays eventually. That's what they're taught to do and what they're going to do. So keep giving them ground balls to make the plays.”

King keeping his composure and extending his time on the mound as far as he did have been very important, too, as Florida deals with a short-handed bullpen.

He now ends the year with an impressive 2.76 ERA and a 6-2 record in 16 appearances (11 starts). Additionally, across these 16 appearances, he pitched 65 ⅓ innings and struck out 72 batters to just 21 walks. 

Even more impressive is that King remains a constant despite facing different types of offenses every weekend.

“Each team is different, very different,” he said. “Some teams attacked early, and some teams like to see how many pitches you can throw in an AB and swing late. So, just knowing their lineup and knowing who they are and how they play is important.”

If King can continue to pitch the way he did down the final stretch of the regular season, then the Gators can be a very dangerous wild card during the postseason. Florida begins play in the SEC Tournament on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. ET against South Carolina.