Jac Caglianone set UF’s single-season home run record (27) in the defeat.
COLLEGE STATION, Tex. – The fourth-ranked Florida baseball team fell in game two by a 15-2 tally in seven innings as Texas A&M evened the series at Blue Bell Park on Saturday evening.
The Gators (37-11, 15-8 SEC) and Aggies (27-20, 10-13 SEC) traded zeros until the bottom of the third, when Texas A&M grabbed a 1-0 lead. On a 2-1 count, Hunter Haas hit a solo home run to left field.
The wheels came off for the Orange & Blue in the fourth, as the Aggies produced an eight-run inning. The big swings came from Haas and Trevor Werner, with the duo delivering a two-run double and two-RBI single, respectively. Jordan Thompson and Kasen Wells also added run-scoring singles.
Faced with a large deficit, Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489> provided Gator Nation with a reason to celebrate in the top of the fifth. With one out in the frame, Caglianone deposited his 27th home run of the season off the scoreboard in left field – setting UF’s single-season home run record in the process.
Texas A&M brought the run-rule into effect in the sixth, using a three-run homer by Austin Bost to push ahead, 12-1. The Aggies tacked on three more before the frame was over on a trio of RBI singles by Jack Moss, Werner and Thompson.
Florida scored a late run in the top of the seventh, as Dale Thomas<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/dale-thomas/15512> picked up a pinch-hit single and later crossed home on a wild pitch.
Aggies reliever Chris Cortez (2-0) earned the win, pitching 2 1/3 innings with one earned run allowed on one hit and two walks.
Waldrep dropped to 6-3 after tossing three-plus innings with four earned runs allowed on two hits and six walks. He fanned five.
Aggies starter Troy Wansing (2-2) did not factor into the decision. The southpaw gave up three hits and four walks while striking out five over 3 2/3 frames.
NOTABLES
* Caglianone set Florida’s single season home run record with his 27th homer of the campaign in the fifth inning.
* Caglianone was previously tied with Matt LaPorta (2005) and teammate Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497> (2022) for the single-season record.
* Waldrep struck out his 100th batter of the season in the third inning.
* Waldrep is the fourth UF pitcher to accomplish the feat since 2017, joining Alex Faedo (157 in 2017), Brady Singer (129 in 2017) and Tommy Mace (113 in 2021).
* Rivera’s team-high 20-game on-base streak was snapped.
* Florida has struck out 502 batters in 409 innings – translating to 11.0 per nine innings.
* The Gators have 490 hits through 48 games (10.2 hits/game).
* The Gators have scored in 47.4% of batted innings (182 of 384).
* Florida dropped to 12-14 all-time against Texas A&M.
* The Gators are 11-8 in the series under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551> and 4-4 in College Station.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the outcome…
“It’s frustrating. It’s not just the walks, it’s the over and over 2-1 counts and 3-1 counts, getting into hitters counts. Yeah, it’s disappointing. We had 10 walks again and one hit batter. Obviously, it just is not a recipe for success. We’ll continue to harp on it but the batting average against when you throw two of the first three pitches for strikes, the 1-2 count and the 2-1 count is about 180 points different. We tried to preach it but, for whatever reason, we’re having a problem at times throwing the ball across the plate. We’ve won plenty of games when we haven’t done that, but when we’ve lost we’ve lost in this kind of fashion. It’s not pretty. It’s not good. The bottom line is we’ve gotta throw the ball across the plate.”
On Caglianone’s record…
“It is disappointing that it came in a game like today because it kind of gets overshadowed by the outcome of the game. Jac’s had a great year for us and to break that record is a tremendous accomplishment for him. We are very happy for him. It’s just unfortunate it came in a game like today.”
On bouncing back…
“They will. We’ve got a full pen. The guys that threw (Friday) will be able to come back. We’ll be able to stretch out (Brandon) Neely as needed because we don’t have any more midweek games. We can probably get three out of Neely. We have been through this before. I guess if there’s one silver lining to this thing, regardless if you lose 3-2 or 15-2 like we did tonight, it’s one loss. We’ve gotta bounce back and we’ve shown the ability to do that.”
UP NEXT
Florida and Texas A&M face off in Sunday’s series finale at 2 p.m. ET on SEC Network+. Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489> (4-2, 5.11 ERA) gets the start for the Orange & Blue.
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