No. 5 Florida State beat Florida in Tallahassee on April 7, 2026, in the final regular-season meeting between the rivals this year. The Seminoles entered at 24-7 overall and 9-3 in conference play, while Florida came in at 24-9 and 7-5.
The win came two weeks after Florida shut out Florida State to take the earlier series, and it followed a road series victory at Virginia that gave the Seminoles a fourth-straight ACC series win. Florida State also moved into the top 5 in the three major rankings for the first time this season, a marker that matched the way it has started to separate itself from the pack.
The stakes around this one were heightened by what each team brought in. Florida had dropped two of three at home to Ole Miss before the trip to Tallahassee, while Florida State had just finished a hard weekend in Charlottesville by losing the opener and taking the final two games from Virginia. In the stands, the Marching Chiefs were on hand for the only game between the teams in Tallahassee this year, turning the night into the kind of campus event that gives this matchup its edge.
Florida still had plenty of production in the lineup. Ethan Surowiec entered hitting.317/.429/.553, had started every game this season and was tied for the team lead with 39 hits and 31 RBI. Brendan Lawson was slashing.352/.556/.802, led the Gators with 11 home runs and 73 total bases, and had missed the final two games against Ole Miss because of an illness. Kyle Jones brought a.305/.388/.445 line, had played in every game this year and led Florida with 16 stolen bases.
Florida State’s next stop came quickly. After the Florida game, the Seminoles were set to travel to Atlanta for a three-game series against Georgia Tech beginning Thursday, a stretch that had already been framed as one of the more difficult parts of the schedule. That makes the result in Tallahassee more than a local win: it kept fsu baseball rolling at a moment when the national picture is finally starting to reflect what it has done all season.
