Right-hander Hurston Waldrep earned the victory in his Gators debut while Josh Rivera (3-for-5) and Jac Caglianone (3-for-5) both collected three hits apiece.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida baseball opened its fall exhibition season with an 8-4 victory over SEC rival Georgia in a 10-inning affair at 121 Financial Ballpark on Friday night.
With the win, Florida takes a 2-1 series lead over Georgia in the fall exhibition series in Jacksonville.
Josh Rivera (3-for-5) and Jac Caglianone (3-for-5) paced the offense with three-hit nights. Rivera finished with one double, two singles, two runs, one RBI and one steal while Caglianone recorded three singles with one run and one RBI. BT Riopelle (1-for-5) led the Gators with two runs driven in.
Starting pitchers Hurston Waldrep and Jaden Woods exchanged zeros through the first two innings, with Waldrep holding the Bulldogs to two hits while striking out the first unofficial batter of his Gators career.
Florida pounced in the top of the third, putting together a four-run frame that began with Caglianone singling home Michael Robertson. Rivera followed with an RBI single of his own to left field that scored Wyatt Langford, while Riopelle capped off the outburst with a two-run single to right that plated both Rivera and Langford.
Left-hander Pierce Coppola relieved Waldrep in the third and proceeded to work out of a bases-loaded jam by inducing a 4-6-3 double play. That opened the door for the Gators to add on, as Ty Evans led off the bottom half with a walk and eventually came in to score on a passed ball.
The Gators extended their lead to 6-0 in the fifth, with Rivera getting things started via a single up the middle. After advancing to third on a stolen base and passed ball, Rivera crossed home on an RBI infield single by Cade Kurland. Florida tacked on a seventh run in the sixth, as Tyler Shelnut led off with a single to left and later scored on a balk preceded by a Robertson single.
Florida and Georgia traded runs in the seventh, as the Bulldogs ended the Gators’ shutout bid. Rivera led off with a double and scored all the way from second on a wild pitch. In the bottom half, Sebastian Murillo brought in Fernando Gonzalez with an RBI single to right field. The Bulldogs made it 8-2 in the eighth as Justin Thomas scored on a wild pitch, then plated two runs in the ninth to bring the score to its final tally of 8-4.
Following two shutout innings from Coppola in the third and fourth, the Gator bullpen held their own in the middle innings to keep the Florida lead intact. Relievers Brandon Neely, Philip Abner, Chris Arroyo and Caglianone each produced scoreless outings for the Orange & Blue.
Waldrep earned the victory, tossing two shutout innings and surrendering two hits and two walks. He struck out one batter. Georgia reliever Nolan Crisp was handed the loss, allowing four earned runs on three hits and two walks across one inning of relief.
Caglianone nailed down the save, pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings with one walk allowed and one strikeout.
Robertson (2-for-3), Caglianone (3-for-5), Rivera (3-for-5) and Kurland (2-for-4) all picked up multiple hits for Florida.
Hitting
Order Player Position AB H 1B 2B 3B HR R RBI BB HBP K SB
1 Michael Robertson CF 3 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 2
2 Wyatt Langford LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0
3 Jac Caglianone 1B/DH/P 5 3 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0
4 Josh Rivera SS 5 3 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 1
5 BT Riopelle C/1B 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 0
6 Ty Evans RF 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 0
Richie Schiekofer RF 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Cade Kurland 2B 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0
Tucker Talbott PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
8 Rene Lastres EH 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Matt Prevesk EH 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
9 Tyler Shelnut DH/3B 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0
10 Dale Thomas 3B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Luke Heyman C 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 42 12 11 1 0 0 8 5 5 1 23 3
Pitching
Player W L APP GS SV IP H R ER BB SO BF HBP NP
Hurston Waldrep 1 0 1 1 0 2.0 2 0 0 2 1 8 0 33
Pierce Coppola 0 0 1 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 2 3 9 0 44
Brandon Neely 0 0 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 2 1 5 0 26
Philip Abner 0 0 1 0 0 1.0 2 0 0 0 3 5 0 22
Ryan Slater 0 0 1 0 0 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 4 0 16
Cade Fisher 0 0 1 0 0 0.2 1 1 1 0 0 3 0 10
Chris Arroyo 0 0 1 0 0 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4
Clete Hartzog 0 0 1 0 0 0.2 2 2 2 2 1 6 0 27
Jac Caglianone 0 0 1 0 1 1.1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 22
TOTAL 1 0 9 1 1 10.0 10 4 4 9 10 41 0 204
UP NEXT
Florida’s next fall exhibition game will take place at home against Stetson on Sunday, Nov. 6. First pitch at Condron Family Ballpark is scheduled for 1 p.m.
###
