Florida State and Florida will renew their baseball rivalry Tuesday night.
And they'll do it with the first top-10 matchup in the rivalry since 2019.
The No. 5 Seminoles (15-0) and the No. 7 Gators (15-2) will face off at Dick Howser Stadium (6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra) for their first of three midweek games this season.
In 2024, the Gators struggled badly in midweek games and FSU took full advantage of that, sweeping UF in dominant fashion by a combined margin of 45-15 across the three games. The final game of that series was a 19-4 seven-inning thrashing in Tallahassee to finish off the Seminoles' first sweep of the Gators since 2000.
As such, FSU enters this year's series with an active three-game winning streak in the rivalry. With another win Tuesday, a four-game win streak would match FSU's longest win streak over UF since a five-game winning streak from 2001-03.
However, it doesn't seem that a win Tuesday or a series win this season in the rivalry will be nearly as easy to come by as it was for the Seminoles in 2024. After struggling early in the season, the 2024 Gators barely snuck into the NCAA Tournament but got hot and made a run into the semifinals of the College World Series.
They have parlayed that hot streak into a strong start to their 2025 campaign, winning their first 11 games of the season and climbing the ranks of the top 10 early this season.
For one thing, UF has an established midweek starter early this season in Clemson transfer Billy Barlow. While he struggled some in relief vs. Miami (three earned runs on five hits over two innings), the probable starter for Tuesday's game vs. FSU has been great through three midweek starts.
In starts against Jacksonville, Stetson and Florida Atlantic, Barlow has allowed four runs but just one earned run on 10 hits over 12.1 innings (0.73 ERA). He's got 14 strikeouts to four walks over 14.1 overall innings this season.
Barlow will face his toughest test to date in the form of an FSU offense that ranks fifth nationally in batting average (.345) and tied for 38th nationally in home runs (21).
The same can be said, though, for expected FSU starting pitcher Evan Chrest. The junior righty has been quite good through his first three midweek starts for the Seminoles, posting a 2.87 ERA over 15.2 innings. He's coming off his best start of the season, allowing just one run on four hits over six innings last Tuesday vs. North Florida.
A talented UF lineup which ranks ninth nationally in batting average (.336), tied for fifth in doubles (43), tied for 15th in home runs (28) and 12th in slugging percentage (.575) will present a tougher challenge for Chrest.
In fact, it may be the toughest challenge the Jacksonville transfer has faced in his pitching career considering he was a weekend starter both seasons at JU and faced just one power-conference team (Cincinnati in 2024).
The same can be said for the 2025 Seminoles as a whole. After an ease into the 2025 season, FSU faces its first power-conference opponent Tuesday night, ACC play begins this weekend vs. Boston College and then the Seminoles hit the road to face Miami next weekend.
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