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The Florida Gators (10-3) met an unfamiliar opponent on Tuesday night but Kevin O'Sullivan wasn't going to let his team sleepwalk through another midweek matchup. The schedule showed Georgia State, what it didn't show is just how good the Panthers are. Georgia State took two of three games from West Virginia and also boasts wins over Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech this season.

"Every team they've played this year has been a ranked opponent," O'Sullivan told his team before the game. "I thought that the moment or the game wasn't going to be too much for Georgia State. They won a game against Vanderbilt, they beat Georgia Tech, took two from West Virginia."

The Gators took that and ran with it early. Florida used a two-run home run off the bat of Kirby McMullen, the fifth-year senior's first of the season, in the first inning to go up 2-0.

"I was pretty happy to get my first one out of the way this season," McMullen said. "I was more happy with my hurt ankle that I didn't have to run around the bases anymore. Being able to jog around the bases was pretty nice today."

Garrett Milchin drew the start and threw his best game of the season. Coming off of two Tommy John surgeries that have kept the redshirt junior off of the diamond since 2017 Milchin has been on a tight pitch count in each of his starts this year. He was able to keep his pitch count down on Tuesday night, retiring the first eight batters he faced.

"It was good to stretch him out for 60 pitches. I think that may have been one of the best starts we've had all year long from a command standpoint," O'Sullivan said after the game. "He really commanded both sides of the plate with his fastball and really started to get a feel for his breaking ball back. He's got a tremendous role for us moving forward. I'm just really happy for him."

Milchin would throw four scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and struck out three Panthers.

Florida added a run in the second inning when Colby Halter doubled to left field and advanced to third on a fielding error. He was able to score on Josh Rivera's groundout to make the score 3-0. Florida added two more runs in the third frame. A single and two walks loaded the bases for Jordan Butler, who brought in the fourth run of the game with a sac fly to center field. One more single loaded the bases for Halter, who reached on a fielder's choice, allowing Hickey to score and make the score 5-0.

That was really all she wrote for the Gators' offense, which managed just five hits on the night. Florida's pitching was good enough to hold a good Georgia State team to just six hits, two of which came in the top of the ninth.

Jacob Young, who broke the consecutive games with a hit record on Sunday, had his streak snapped at 30 games. Young went 0-4 with two strikeouts. It was the first time Young played in a game and didn't have at least one hit since June of 2019.

Jordan Butler's less talked about hitting streak was halted at 12 games on Tuesday night. Butler was 0-2 with a sacrifice fly and a walk.

Stetson comes to Florida Ballpark on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m