Florida HC Kevin O'Sullivan Gives Injury Update on Gators P Russell Sandefer

HOOVER, Ala.-- Florida Gators starting pitcher Russell Sandefer is believed to have avoided serious injury after getting hit with a 105-mile-per-hour comebacker on his right arm, which forced him to leave his start in the SEC Tournament semifinal against Georgia in the second inning.

Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan said that Sandefer's X-rays were negative during an in-game interview on the SEC Network broadcast.

"It's swelled up, you know, not that much, but we're not gonna take any chances," he said. "Luckily enough for us, they just already got him X-rays and came back negative, so obviously dodged a bullet there."

Sandefer, who had one strikeout and given up two hits in his start, was seen with ice wrapped on his right forearm. He was replaced by reliever Jackson Barberi in the second, who went 2 2/3 innings with two hits, two earned runs and five strikeouts. Florida went on to lose 8-7.

O'Sullivan added in his postgame media availability that Sandefer will be ready to go for the NCAA Tournament next week.

"It was unfortunate today with Russ because that's about as good of stuff as he's had all year long," he said. "I'm looking at the board and he's throwing 96, 97, and he's throwing his fastball to both sides of the plate. That was the best he's looked."

Florida Blows Lead After Rain Delay

Sandefer's injury set the tone as the Gators relied on its bullpen for the rest of the game.

Barberi held Georgia at bay with five strikeouts during his appearance but gave up two earned runs. O'Sullivan previously said Barberi would not pitch more than three innings if his pitch count was low. One of his earned runs came from Ricky Reeth, who lasted just a 1/3 inning with two hits and an earned run of his own. Luke McNeillie replaced him, going 2/3 inning with two hitsm one walk and an earned run before Ernesto Lugo-Canchola settled things with four strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings.

O'Sullivan pulled Lugo-Canchola right before a one-hour rain delay in the seventh inning. Joshua Whritenour replaced Lugo-Canchola but earned the loss after giving up three runs (one earned) in 1 2/3 innings. He notably gave up a sacrifice flyout to Georgia's Daniel Jackson in the eighth despite having an open base, which proved to be the game-winner.

"You pick your poison. It's like - and for me, the thought did cross my mind, but those are the opportunities -- like, Josh needs to face Jackson in that spot," O'Sullivan said. "Like, if he comes out successful, boy, does he feel really good about himself. So those are the type of battles within the game that you go you know what? Let's go mano-a-mano. Let's go head-to-head and see what happens. And I think that's important for players to go through that, and pitchers for that matter."

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Florida's bats also struggled after taking its 6-0 lead in the third. After Caden McDonald smacked a three-run home run, Florida managed just four hits, three of which came in the seventh inning and included an RBI single from Blake Cyr to cap off Florida's scoring.

Entering Saturday, SEC teams were 3-140 when trailing by six runs in a game this season before Georgia came back to advance to Sunday's SEC Tournament Championship. Florida, having locked up a regional hosting bid, will now have to wait to see if it did enough to clinch a top-eight seed in the NCAA Tournament.

"Although it's disappointing, I'm really proud of the way our team played this week," O'Sullivan said. "I think we maybe opened up some eyes to other people around the country that may not have seen us play. And we've come such a long way. I think this weekend kind of puts us in a position for our team to be ready for the postseason."

Region hosts will be revealed on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET, according to College Baseball Central's Noah Darling, with the full NCAA Tournament slate revealed on Monday at noon during the selection show on ESPN 2.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/florida as Florida HC Kevin O'Sullivan Gives Injury Update on Gators P Russell Sandefer.

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This story was originally published May 23, 2026 at 8:15 PM.