Thoughts of the Day: May 16, 2026
A few thoughts to jump start your Saturday morning:
With their 11-1 run-rule win over LSU (29-26, 9-20 SEC) Friday night in Baton Rouge, the Gators (36-18, 17-12 SEC) put themselves in prime contention to earn the double bye for next week’s Southeastern Conference Tournament in Hoover, Alabama. A Florida win and either a loss by Texas A&M (38-13, 17-11 SEC) to Mississippi State (39-15, 16-13 SEC) or Alabama (36-18, 17-12 SEC) to Ole Miss (36-19, 15-14 SEC) will move the Gators into the top four, which means no game in Hoover until Thursday.
At tournament time when pitching is at a premium, the fewer the games the better. The Gators can’t control what happens to the Aggies or Crimson Tide today, but they can control matters in Baton Rouge by sweeping the Tigers at Alex Box Stadium.
Friday night, the Gators jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first two innings, giving Liam Peterson all the support he needed. In going the 7-inning distance (game called after seven because the Gators had a 10-run lead), Peterson scattered three hits, walked only one and struck out 11, easily his best outing of the season.
In the first inning, the Gators got an RBI double from Ethan Surowiec and an RBI ground out by Cash Strayer for a 2-0 lead. In the second, Hayden Yost’s sacrifice fly and a 2-run homer by Brendan Lawson accounted for the scoring. Florida added two in the fifth on a 2-run homer by Surowiec, then broke loose for four more in the top of the seventh on a 3-run home run by Strayer and a solo homer by Landon Stripling.
Prior to Friday night, the Gators were No. 11 in the latest NCAA RPI. Florida is 14-6 against ranked opponents. It is almost a certainty that the Gators will host an NCAA regional. With a sweep over LSU and a couple of wins next week in Hoover the Gators could find themselves finishing top eight in RPI and probably a top eight seed for the NCAA tournament.
GATOR SOFTBALL: ONE DOWN, GEORGIA TECH NEXT
The Gators (49-10) opened play in the NCAA Gainesville Regional Friday afternoon with a 12-0 run-rule win over Florida A&M (32-21) at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. The Gators will face Georgia Tech (31-27), a 2-1 winner over Texas State at 10 a.m. today with the winner advancing to the Sunday championship.
Taylor Shumaker lit up FAMU pitching for three hits including her 17th home run of the season and five RBI. Jocelyn Erickson had a pair of doubles among her three hits while Ava Brown had two hits and two RBI.
Florida’s 12-hit performance backed up the combined 1-hitter pitched by Keagan Rothrock (27-6), who went three hitless innings, Katelynn Oxley and Leah Stevens. Oxley gave up a harmless 1-out single to center in the fourth and Stevens gave up a walk in a hitless fifth.
As the No. 6 national seed, the Gators can host a super regional if they breeze through Georgia Tech today and whoever they play Sunday. Should the Gators win, they would be paired with the winner of the Lubbock Regional where No. 11 Texas Tech and Ole Miss play today in a winner’s bracket game.
SUMRALL, GATORS LAND A STUD DT
Jon Sumrall continues to turn the Gators into a force to be reckoned with on the recruiting trail. Florida’s latest commitment comes from defensive lineman Cain Van Norden (6-7, 265, District Heights, MD Bishop McNamara), a 3-star recruit who chose the Gators over Georgia, Ole Miss and Maryland. Rivals ranks Van Norden as the No. 53 defensive lineman in the nation.
Per Jason Higdon, the final word in Florida recruiting at 1standtenFlorida.com, the Gators are in good shape for wide receiver Elias Pearl (5-11, 185, Port Charlotte, FL), who will make his announcement Tuesday. Pearl is a fast, elusive slot receiver who had 1,680 all-purpose yards and 20 touchdowns last year as a junior. Florida will also find out Thursday if linebacker AJ Randall (6-3, 210, Raleigh, NC Garner) is going to be a Gator. He’s down to Florida, Miami, Georgia, Ohio State, South Carolina and North Carolina State.
TRACK AND FIELD: BOTH UF MEN AND WON 2ND AT SEC
Heading into today’s finals at the Southeastern Conference Track and Field Championships in Auburn, the Gators are in second place on both the men’s and women’s side. With 13 events to go, the Florida men (38 points) are just five behind Alabama. Over on the women’s side, Alabama has a commanding 62.5-32 lead over the second place Gators.
Today, the Gators should pick up points in both the men’s and women’s 4X100 and 4X400 relays. The Florida men should also get points from Temosi Masiken and Jaden Lippett in the triple jump, Jarno Van Daalen in the discus, Riley Smith and Oussama Allaoui in the 1500, Justin Braun in the 400 and Miguel Pantojas in the 800. On the women’s side, points should be scored by Alida Van Daalen in the disucss, Asia Phillips in the triple jump, Claire Stegall in both the 1500 and 800, Layla Haynes in the 800, Quincy Penn in the 400, Gabrielle Matthews in both the 100 and 200, and Hilda Olemomoi and Tia Wilson in the 5000.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Let’s start with the obvious. Lane Kiffin is an outstanding football coach who, given LSU’s resources, is almost certain to win and win big. He can take LSU to the places Brian Kelly only dreamed of going.
There is a flip side to Lane, one that makes friends and foe alike cringe. He is prone to say outrageous things that have everyone shaking their head and asking what was the necessity of the commentary? Consider him the mouth that roared.
Lane’s latest escapade has successfully pissed off half the state of Mississippi and perhaps 90 percent of the people who live in Oxford. By claiming the racial past made recruiting difficult when he was the Ole Miss coach, Kiffin revived memories of 1962 when James Meredith became the first African-American student at the formerly segregated school. It took 31,000 Federal troops to put down the 1962 riots at Ole Miss and protect Meredith who received countless death threats.
During the 64 years since Meredith, Ole Miss and the entire state of Mississippi have made great strides in bandaging deep wounds, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise that Kiffin’s comments touched a sore spot in the minds of many. Ole Miss faithful are asking whatever did we do to deserve Lane Kiffin going scorched earth on us? Did we mistreat him while he was here? No. Did we give him everything he asked for and then some? Hell yes!
Already perceived as a villain by Ole Miss fans for the way he bolted for the LSU job after an 11-1 regular season with the Rebels making the College Football Playoff, Kiffin has succeeded in turning an already intense LSU-Ole Miss rivalry into a tinder box. Kiffin might need bodyguards when LSU visits Ole Miss on September 19. That game will be must see TV for the entire country.
Now, Lane has issued an apology but the words have a hollow ring to them. He has a history of saying things and then trying to express remorse, which lends to the perception that he’s still the spoiled brat who walked out on Tennessee for Southern Cal after one year on the job in Knoxville.
This is the chance any school takes when it hires Lane Kiffin. You have to be willing to consider a tradeoff because with the wins on the football field come Lane being Lane, which is to say there is no telling what will emerge from his mouth. LSU fans and admin haven’t been trying to blanket this latest Kiffin outburst. If anything, after enduring four years of Brian Kelly doing a fake southern accent and never fitting in with the culture of the state of Louisiana, LSU fans think Lane Kiffin is a breath of fresh air.
LSU knew what it was getting when it hired Kiffin, just as Florida would have known what it was getting if it had won the battle for his head coaching services. Like it or not, Lane is going to be Lane which means you take the wins with the words.
When LSU became Kiffin’s runaway bride destination, Scott Stricklin and Florida pivoted to Jon Sumrall. Like Kiffin, Sumrall wins as three league championships in four years attest. Like Kiffin, he also talks. A lot. Unlike Kiffin, Sumrall sticks with positives and leaves the negativity to others. Sumrall seems too busy building up Florida to worry about the woulda, coulda and shouldas of other places.
Some might look at Lane’s most recent outburst and think Florida dodged a bullet by hiring Sumrall. Perhaps a better way to look at it is this: LSU got what it wanted and Florida found the coach who is the right fit. The Gators are going to get the wins without the provocative words from a mouth from which you never know what will emerge.
I am glad we did NOT hire kiffycakes. I think he is a huge cancer.
In today’s Orlando Sentinel, Gainesville native Mike Bianchi has an excellent column on the difference(s) between Lam Kiffin and John Sumrall.
These two Gator roundball teams, softball and baseball, are simmering to a peak temperature at just the right time. So typical of Tim Walton- and Kevin O’Sullivan-coached teams. As for Lane Kiffin, LSU isn’t known for high ethical standards either. Glad that Jon Sumrall came our way.