Florida baseball is looking to get back in the win column this week against the No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies.
The Gators host the Aggies for a three-game series starting Friday night with Aidan King on the mound. King started Florida's last win, eight days ago, in the series opener against the Auburn Tigers. Since then, it's been a struggle in Gainesville with two losses to the Tigers and a midweek loss to Jacksonville.
The Gators' offense is sputtering, with Blake Cyr and Ethan Surowiec as the only consistent bats in the lineup. Even Brendan Lawson has struggled at the plate in recent weeks. Surowiec's defense at third base was questionable last weekend, but freshman Colton Schwarz is healthy enough to take over and move him back to first. Cyr has moved into the cleanup spot, replacing Karson Bwoen, who shifted down to the five-hole.
Once again, Florida will be without Cash Strayer and Jackson Barberi this week. Catcher AJ Malzone is also listed as out for the opener.
NOTES: Aidan King delivered his third straight quality start for Florida last weekend in a Thursday night win over Auburn. He struck out eight and allowed just five baserunners. There's not much to say that hasn't already been said about King. He's Florida's ace, and the Gators are tough to beat when he's on the mound. A sub-1.75 ERA and .188 opposing batting average tell the story here.
Shane Sdao is the veteran presence on this pitching staff, and he likes to fill up the zone with more than 70% strikes. He missed last year with Tommy John surgery, but there are no apparent limitations on him despite the time off. His fastball will sit between 91-94 mph, while his slider comes in at 80-82 and is his best pitch. He has a faster, 84-87 cutter-ish pitch with less tilt, and he flashes an 83-86 mph changeup that isn't quite ready for regular use.
He's given up 63 hits and 33 earned runs over 53 innings this year, but he'll miss bats at a decent clip (25.7% strikeout rate). Walks aren't going to come easily, so Florida's plan should be to attack early and often.
NOTES: Liam Peterson suffered his third loss of the year last week, but he deserved better. Besides a home run allowed in the second, Peterson worked around the other hits he allowed. He's pitching to contact more, which means fewer strikeouts, and the walk numbers are getting better. An error in the fourth extended the inning, and another home run led to three unearned runs. Peterson should have been out of the inning, though. A high pitch count meant he couldn't return for the sixth, and the offense never evened up the score.
Aiden Sims is Texas A&M's most effective pitcher. He's coming off seven innings of two-run ball against LSU, and opponents are batting just .206 off him with 51 strikeouts over 48 innings. His record and ERA speak for themselves. Sims attacks the strike zone early with a 94-95 mph fastball — however, it averages 92.1 overall — and cutter. He uses a sharp, low-80s slider, a low-80s changeup and curveball to get outs with two strikes. His breaking stuff has great spin (3100-3200 rpm).
NOTES: Russell Sandefer looked good last week, even though he didn't make it through five complete innings. His strikeouts are still down, but he's effective at getting ground balls (57.3%). The two runs that scored off him went unearned thanks to errors. Florida's defense needs to be sharper with a guy like Sandefer on the mound, so he can go deeper in games.
Texas A&M has four other pitchers with starting experience this season. Junior Weston Moss leads that group with nine starts and no relief appearances. He was the regular Saturday starter until Sims took his place three weeks ago. Moss got the Sunday start against LSU last week, but Aggies head coach Mike Earley is keeping his options open.
Moss has a 92-94 mph fastball that can run up to 98 mph at times. He likes to go to his low-to-mid-80s changeup often, and he flashes a low-80s slider that draws a decent whiff rate. His problem has been balls in the air. After inducing more than 50% ground balls last season, he holds a 45.8% fly ball rate with a 20.4% home-run-to-fly-ball ratio this year.
Freshman Cole Hubert (five starts), sophomore Gavin Lyons (three starts) and junior Juan Vargas (one start) are the other options. Hubert is a midweek guy who doesn't usually pitch on the weekends.
Texas A&M has six batters with an OPS above 1.000, and each of them has at least 64 plate appearances. Centerfielder Caden Sorrell (1.278 OPS) leads the team with 18 home runs, 13 doubles and 59 RBIs, although he is a bit strikeout-heavy with 43 on the year. Still, it's legitimate extra-base power with an on-base percentage nearing .500.
First baseman Gavin Grahovac (1.162 OPS) is the name most will know. He was the 2024 SEC Freshman of the Year and set a program record among freshmen with 23 homers. Grahovac is another on-base machine with serious pop. He's struck out just 27 times and walked 17 times in 184 plate appearances. He's also been hit by pitchers 11 times this year. Grahovac's 53 RBIs, 12 home runs and 11 doubles all rank second to Sorrell.
Catcher Bear Harrison (1.079 OPS) and freshman third baseman Nico Partida (1.047 OPS) are the other two lineup regulars with 1.000-plus OPS for the Aggies. Partida has 121 home runs and 37 RBIs with 25 walks to 31 strikeouts. Harrison has the best eye on the team with more walks (32) than strikeouts (24). He's one of those guys who has a proclivity for getting hit by the ball with 15 HBPs on the year.
Blake Binderup (1.252 OPS) and freshman right fielder Jorlan Wilson (1.132 OPS) are also worth noting, although they have fewer plate appearances than the rest at 64 and 84, respectively. Both have good pop with a combined 15 home runs, but both are prone to striking out, too.
Ethan Darden, Clayton Freshcorn and Gavin Lyons are the names to know out of the bullpen. Freshcorn operates in the closer role and late-game situations. He throws 94-95 mph with his heater and has a very good slider. He has 33 strikeouts and just four walks this year. So, Florida needs to avoid seeing him while trailing.
Darden and Lyons are the first two options in relief, depending on the matchups at the plate. Darden, a Clemson transfer, is a lefty who has a career groundball rate near 60%. He has 16 strikeouts in as many appearances, but is prone to walking guys with nine. Darden uses a fastball up to 93 mph and a solid slider. Lyons touches 94 with his fastball and can eat up innings. He's worked 45 2/3 frames with 38 strikeouts and 11 walks over 18 appearances.
Juan Vargas is the other 15-plus appearance guy on this roster. He's only thrown 19 1.3 innings, but his .123 batting average against leads the team. He's not a big strikeout guy (16) and will walk a batter (7), but Vargas is good to bridge a gap without burning one of the guys mentioned above.