The Florida Gators have dominated the Miami Hurricanes in baseball over the past two decades, winning 16 of the last 20 series.
Hurricane fans often looked towards this annual series with utter disdain, but this year had a bit of hope as the Canes came into the series undefeated at 10-0.
But that hope was short-lived, as the No. 10 Gators stamped their authority over Miami for the fifth-straight year, securing the series win by taking the opening two games of the series before Sunday’s game was canceled due to rain.
Here’s what we learned about Miami this weekend as Florida took control of the all-time series 138-136-1:
Same old story
Miami came into this matchup as the 17th-ranked team in the country with some of the hottest bats in the nation, racking up an average north of 15 runs per game.
The bats were hot, the vibes were high and it just felt like it was finally Miami’s time to get over its gator-sized hump.
And yet, once UF shortstop Brendan Lawson launched an opposite-field homer in the top of the first inning on Friday, it felt like the series was already over.
UM players looked defeated, played tight and felt overmatched both nights. On multiple occasions, Miami would get runners on, but could never come through to swing the momentum towards the orange and green.
On the other hand, UF was calm and collected — as if this wasn’t a series it hoped to win, but one it expected to win.
The Canes historically are undoubtedly a “blue-blood” program with four national titles and their names all over the NCAA record books. But for most college-aged fans and recruits, they’ve only seen Miami defeat UF a handful of times in their entire life.
That’s not just a tough stretch, that’s an identity — one that directly impacts recruiting and the overall brand of the program.
Bullpens made the difference
For all the negativity surrounding the series as a whole, both games were relatively close.
On Friday night, the game was tied 2-2 heading into the eighth, while on Saturday, the game was tied 4-4 heading into the seventh.
But Florida was able to deal damage against Miami relievers as they launched game-icing home runs on both nights.
The Hurricanes, on the other hand, simply had no answers for Florida’s relievers, who would come in and shut the door. Florida brought in flamethrowers in the form of Jackson Barberi and Joshua Whritenour, who overpowered UM with their fastballs that touched 100 mph consistently.
While such talent would’ve been revered on the Miami side, the Canes would’ve also appreciated their consistency. In five innings of work, Miami’s relievers allowed eight runs and seven walks.
The backend of this Hurricane bullpen must improve heading into ACC play next weekend against Boston College.
Starters shine
Arguably the only positives from this weekend were Miami’s starting pitchers AJ Ciscar and Rob Evans.
The Hurricane starters took care of business in their appearances over the last few weeks, but that was against subpar competition in Lehigh and Lafayette.
A key focus heading into this weekend was whether or not they could raise their game to match Florida’s offense.
And they did just that.
Ciscar surgically worked his way through UF’s lineup on Friday, generating plenty of weak contact while not allowing a single walk through seven innings of work.
Evans answered the call as well on Saturday. Putting aside his adventurous second inning where he gave up four runs on five hits, the New York native carved up Florida hitters at will, tallying up 12 strikeouts — the most from a Hurricane starter since Gage Ziehl struck out 15 in 2024.
If Miami’s starters can continue to give their offense a chance, the bats will come around and make this Hurricane team a real force in the ACC.
