Rivalry Renewed as Gators Baseball Travels to Miami for Weekend Series

An annual rivalry returns on Friday, as the No. 10 Florida Gators take a road trip to Coral Gables to take on the No. 17 Miami Hurricanes in a three-game series.

It is a battle filled with great pitching, talented bats and bitter animosity between two programs that hate losing to each other.

“Yeah, everyone here hates Miami,” Florida starting pitcher Aidan King said. “They’re a good team…but we’re going to go out there and beat them like how we beat UAB and Kennesaw State.”

Florida and Miami are all square in wins all-time in the historic series. After the Gators took two of the three games last season in Gainesville, the record stands at 136-136-1 against the Hurricanes.

However, under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan, Florida has been the more dominant team. The Gators have bested the Hurricanes 43 times in 62 tries during his tenure. Moreover, the Orange and Blue have outclassed the Orange and Green on the road 18-9 since Florida hired O’Sullivan.

There are several players from last year’s roster looking to continue the stranglehold the Gators have had on this series.

Former Miami Hurricane Blake Cyr is making his first return to his previous home. Star infielder Brendan Lawson is getting his second bite at the apple. Experienced second baseman Cade Kurland is looking to extend his series-winning streak over the Hurricanes to four years running.

Blake Cyr is in his second season with the Florida Gators after transferring from Miami. | Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI

There is also starting pitcher Liam Peterson, who shared his not-so-subtle feelings on Miami.

“It's circled all year,” Peterson said on the Miami series. “It's always a good series, but it's definitely one of the teams that we don't like, and they don't like us.”

Peterson did not have the success he wanted in his first year on campus, recording a loss and allowing five earned runs over five innings in 2024.

His fortunes changed as a sophomore when he controlled the Hurricanes' offense in Gainesville for a win to open the series. The experienced righty struck out seven batters in six innings on the mound and only surrendered two runs to a potent lineup.

This early-season heavyweight bout is definitely important for both sides, evidenced by the comments from Florida's dynamic 1-2 punch on the mound. The winner takes home the ever-so-important bragging rights for the entire year.

However, from a coach's perspective, it cannot be viewed through a narrow lens.

“If you have success on a weekend like that, that doesn't determine the outcome of the season,” the Gators head coach said. “And, if you don't have success as much as you want, that also is not going to determine the outcome of the season, but it's certainly really good to play really quality teams to kind of give yourself a real measure of where you're at right now.”

One thing to keep an eye on is how the Florida pitching staff fares against the scorching-hot Miami bats.

The Hurricanes' offense sits at No. 1 in the country in runs scored, having had 155 runners cross home plate in 10 games in 2026. It is also first in home runs (28), tied for first in hits (138), third in batting average (.374) and fifth in doubles (28).

Conversely, Florida's bullpen has been an issue at times. O’Sullivan said some relief arms have his trust, but others he still wants to see more from.

A few names that have earned O'Sullivan's backing include Ernesto Lugo-Canchola, Ricky Reeth and Jackson Barberi. As for players who have disappointed early, Billy Barlow, Christian Rodriguez, Caden McDonald and Jackson Hoyt have struggled to keep runs off the board.

Nonetheless, Lawson is confident in the Gators chances to keep the ball rolling.

"I'm as confident as ever," Lawson said. "The guys that we have back there, it's a really solid group. We're going to bring our best stuff down to Miami."