Kevin O’Sullivan moved King into the No. 1 spot of the rotation after several short outings from Liam Peterson, and what a decision that turned out to be. King took a perfect game into the seventh inning and allowed just two hits. The second hit was a bizarre play in left field that three defenders converged on but couldn’t catch, resulting in a two-run triple and losing the shutout.<\/p>\n
Despite the final line, King was practically untouchable for the entire night. Two walks came back to haunt him on that triple, but he did what O’Sullivan was hoping he would. The Gators only needed to use one relief arm, Ricky Reeth, who saw his first action since February.<\/p>\n
Offensively, Florida struggled against Georgia’s starter, Joey Volchko. A leadoff hit by pitch and an error in the first inning led to a run scoring, but Volchko faced one more than the minimum over the next four innings. The Gators loaded the bases against him in the sixth, but Volchko worked out of the jam.<\/p>\n
Florida’s offense finally opened up when it saw the bullpen. Another error led to a disastrous seventh inning that spiraled into a seven-run frame. Florida scored six runs on Paul Fraley, off four hits and a walk. Blake Cyr cleared the bases with a double, and Landon Stripling homered to knock Farley out of the game. Cole Stanford made it back-to-back home runs, albeit against different pitchers, after Thomas Ellisen relieved Farley.<\/p>\n
Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!<\/a> FINAL: Florida 8, Georgia 2<\/p>\n Reeth struck out Jackson to open the final frame. He got into a nine-pitch battle with O’Shaughnessy, which ended in a walk, but it ended up okay. Lujo flied out to right for out No. 2. Oriach hit the ball to the right side, but it bounced off O’Shaugnessy for an automatic out, ending the ball game. A bizarre finish to a strange game, but a Florida win nonetheless.<\/p>\n Three outs to go<\/p>\n Stripling walked, but Brown retired the other three Gators relatively easily. Kurland struck out looking, Stanford struck out swinging and Yost grounded out to first base. At this point, it’s about securing the win on the mound without wasting arms. Reeth only needs three outs to close it out (M9: Florida 8, Georgia 2)<\/p>\n Georgia scores two, King done for the day<\/p>\n Aidan King is still pitching for Florida, but he’s starting to lose some steam. After getting Oriahc to fly out, he walked Allen and Ishikawa, prompting a visit from Sully. King settled back in and got Branch to pop up to short. Black popped up to left field, but Cyr couldn’t get there in time, and the ball fell just inside fair territory. With everyone running, Georgia scored a pair, and Black ended up on third with a triple. An unfortunate end to an excellent night from King.<\/p>\n Ricky Reeth relieved King for his first outing since Feb. 28 at Miami. Phelps tried to steal a base by claiming he was hit with a pitch. Georgia challenged the non-call and lost. Pelps ended up grounding out up the middle, where Kurland was positioned. (E8: Florida 8, Georgia 2)<\/p>\n Gators strand a pair<\/p>\n Georgia used another bullpen arm in the eighth. Right-hander Luke Wiltrakis got the call and got a pair of quick outs. Myers grounded out to second base on the first pitch he saw. Jones struck out swinging at a splitter, and Wiltrakis celebrated like the score was still 1-0. Jones just stared at him, a bit confused by the theatrics. Surowiec walked on five pitches. Bowen also walked on five pitches, including a pair of wild pitches that moved Surowiec over to third.<\/p>\n Zach Brown had to get the final out of the inning, in relief of Wiltrakis. (M8: Florida 8, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n King gives up first hit<\/p>\n Phelps broke up King’s perfect game with a line drive into left field after the big top of the seventh. It’s always tough to wait that long on the bench, but King is probably happier with the eight-run lead than having to preserve a one-run lead by being perfect.<\/p>\n Jackson and O’Shaugnessy both popped up to center field \u2014 easy outs for Jones. Hayden Yost entered the game as a defensive replacement for Kendall. Yost is in right field, and Cyr moved over to left. Lujo grounded out to third to strand Phelps. (E7: Florida 8, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n Gators break out for seven runs in 7th<\/p>\n Joey Volchko is done for the day. He was over 100 pitches at the end of the sixth, despite allowing just two hits all day. Paul Farley is the new arm.<\/p>\n Farley got a pair of ground balls to start the inning and should have had two outs, but a second error from Branch at short put Myers on base. Things spiraled from there. Jones singled through the left side, Myers moved to third on a passed ball, Surowiec walked to load the bases, and Bowen made it a 2-0 game with a single into right field.<\/p>\n With the bases still loaded and only one out, Cyr doubled to left center, clearing the bags and bringing in three runs.<\/p>\n Kurland lined out to third to finally record a second out, but Stripling kept the runs flowing with a two-run homer to center field. That’s the end of the line for Farley<\/p>\n Thomas Ellisen took over for Farley and immediately gave up a solo home run to Stanford.<\/p>\n Mercifully, Kendall grounded out to first to end the big inning.<\/p>\n The Georgia fans were not happy with some of the ball-strike calls in this inning, but Farley was a fairly wild. This umpire hasn’t been the best, but he’s mostly stayed consistent with his zone. (M7: Florida 7, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n King goes 1-2-3 for sixth straight inning<\/p>\n We are witnessing something special, regardless of what happens over the next few frames. Aidan King has retired 18 batters in a row and mixing pitches to perfection. He struck out Ishikawa looking with a backfoot slider and induced a pair of groundouts for another 1-2-3 frame. The second out went to Myers at shortstop, and King covered first to get the ball from Stripling and end the inning. (E6: Florida 1, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n Florida loads bases, can’t score<\/p>\n Surowiec grounded out to second base to open the sixth. Bowen notched Florida’s second hit of the game with a single up the middle, but Cyr was unable to advance him. Cyr struck out looking on a breaking ball that caught the inner edge of the zone. Kurland fought off a couple of pitches after working the count full and ended up walking, the first of the night for either starter. Volchko lost control a bit and walked Stripling on four pitches to load the bases, but Stanford flied out to center field to strand all three runners. (M6: Florida 1, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n King retires 15th batter in a row<\/p>\n Lujo grounded out to second to give King his 13th out in a row. King struck out Oriach with a breaking ball. Allen took one for a ride to right field, but Cyr came down with it at the wall. We are now officially on a *REDACTED* watch. Georgia is yet to have a baserunner through five innings. (E5: Florida 1, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n Florida just watching strikes go by<\/p>\n Volchko has found his strikeout rhythm. He opened the inning with a punchout of Jacob Kendall, who watched a slider stay in the zone. He did the same to Myers. The slider is working against both sides of the plate. That’s four of the last five batters down on strikes for Florida. Jones got hit by a pitch to put a man on, but he was immediately caught stealing second. This game is flying. (M5: Florida 1, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n Groundballs are good for Gators, King<\/p>\n King worked in and out of the zone to induce a groundout to third base from Phelps. Jackson also went to the left side, finding Myers at shortstop after getting on top of a hung slider. Jackson has wheels, but a Myers’ throw beat him by a step. O’Shaughnessy also grounded out. This one went to second base. King is in top form and is only at 51 pitches through four innings. (E4: Florida 1, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n Volchko strikes out a pair in the fourth<\/p>\n The pitching duel continued in the fourth. Kurland fanned at a slider to open the frame, and Stripling popped up to center field for an easy second out. Volchko caught Stanford looking on strike three. Stanford didn’t agree with the call, but there aren’t ABS challenges at this level. (M4: Florida 1, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n King perfect the first time through lineup<\/p>\n Kenny Ishikawa grounded out to second to open the bottom of the third. Kolby Branch lined one to left field, but Kendall shielded his eyes from the sun and made the routine catch for the second out. King froze Ryan Black with a two-seamer that had a ton of arm-side run for his fourth strikeout of the day. Nine up, nine down for King so far. (E3: Florida 1, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n Gators get first hit, squander opportunity with double play<\/p>\n Surowiec delivered the first hit of the game for either team, a groundball through the left side off a slider, but Bowen grounded into a routine 6-4-3 double play. Cyr grounded out to second to make it a 10-pitch inning. (M3: Florida 1, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n Six up, six down for King so far<\/p>\n Rylan Lujo forces a full count to King to open up the bottom of the second, only to go down looking on a nicely-located fastball.<\/p>\n Jordy Oriach follows that up with a sky-high flyout to right field for the second out and Henry Allen hits the ball hard to centerfield, only for a Gator to be under it when it landed. Three outs and the inning is over. (E2: Florida 1, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n Nothing doing for Florida in the top of the second<\/p>\n Jacob Kendall opens up the second with a strikeout on a tough slider inside for out No. 1. The mound is now in the shadow, along with the batter’s box, so we can’t blame Colt Myers’ strikeout looking on a nasty \u2014 but a bit low \u2014 breaking ball on that.<\/p>\n The batting order resets with Jones, who is thrown out on a spectacular play by the second baseman, who just beats the runner with the throw after a nifty snag. Gators go down 1-2-3. (M2: Florida 1, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n King sends Dawgs down 1-2-3 to end 1st inning<\/p>\n First pitch from Aidan King goes low and outside, as the shadow creeps closer to the rubber, but the sun is still shining in the pitcher’s face. Florida’s righty is forced into a full count, but he stymies Tre Phelps with a gift from the ump for the first out.<\/p>\n Daniel Jackson follows that up with a routine fly ball to center field on five pitches, which brings up Michael O’Shaughnessy, who strikes out to end the frame. (E1: Florida 1, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n Gators get on board early thanks to errors<\/p>\n The game opens up with the batter’s box in the shade while the mound sits at the edge of the sunshine, making it a challenging situation for leadoff hitter Kyle Jones. He probably had trouble seeing the high, inside fastball from Joey Volchko that hit him on the shoulder to give the Gators their first baserunner.<\/p>\n A sharp grounder to the shortstop of the bat of Ethan Surowiec takes a funny hop, resulting in an error and Gators at first and second, with no outs. Karson Bowen follows that up with a hot smash to third that the fielder dove to his left for, advancing the runners while being thrown out at first.<\/p>\n Blake Cyr hit a fly ball just inside the left field line that was perfectly catchable, but the Dawgs botched another play and a run scores, with Gators now at first and second with still one out.<\/p>\n Cade Kurland flies out easily to centerfield, bringing up Landon Stripling, whose foot is hit by a sharp breaking ball. Two hit-by-pitches, two errors, two outs… and the bases are loaded for Cole Stanford, who hits a hard grounder to third for the final out. (M1: Florida 1, Georgia 0)<\/p>\n Stream Florida at Georgia with ESPN+<\/a>Probable Starters: Game 1TeamPitcherRecordERAFLORIDARHP Aidan King4-21.62GEORGIARHP Joey Volchko6-03.89<\/p>\n NOTES:\u00a0Aidan King is the new Friday night guy for Florida, but he’s pitched like a No. 1 all year. Last week’s seven shutout innings against Ole Miss was just the latest in a series of high-level performances from the sophomore. The idea with moving King into the Friday slot is to keep Florida’s bullpen fresh for the rest of the series. Liam Peterson wasn’t getting deep enough into games, which led to some uncomfortable relief outings. King doesn’t need to go seven, but getting through six feels like the norm for him. However, Georgia is liable to knock even the best arms out of the game earlier than expected.<\/p>\n Joey Volchko, a Stanford transfer, has looked the part of a top SEC arm this year for Georgia. While he can struggle with command at times, he’s typically good for five or six innings of two-run ball or better. Florida needs to do what\u00a0Texas A&M<\/a>\u00a0did and get him out of the game early \u2014 although a five-out night is a bit extreme. His fastball will run up to the upper 90s, even touching 100 mph at times, and he has a true 88-92 mph sweeper. His changeup checks in around the same velocity. Volchko will also mix in a low-90s cutter.<\/p>\n Florida Gators starting lineupGeorgia Bulldogs starting lineupWhat channel is Florida at Georgia?<\/p>\n The Florida at Georgia game starts at 6 p.m. ET from Foley Field in Athens, Georgia.<\/p>\n Follow us\u00a0@GatorsWire<\/a>\u00a0on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky<\/a>, and like our page on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775893041_138_73904848007-CWS-G3-2.jpeg\")