Luke Heyman drove in a career-high eight runs while reliever Ryan Slater tossed four perfect innings to earn the win.
Gainesville, Fla. – The third-ranked Gators scored 14 unanswered runs to overcome a five-run deficit and take the series vs. Auburn with a convincing 17-8 victory at Condron Family Ballpark on Sunday afternoon.
Florida (24-5, 7-2 SEC) trailed 8-3 entering the bottom of the fifth, but plated multiple runs in every inning to follow while reliever Ryan Slater<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ryan-slater/15506> (4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 K) fired four-straight scoreless innings on the mound. The comeback was led by freshman catcher Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/15522>, who finished 3-for-4 with a grand slam and career-high eight RBI.
Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497> was also outstanding at the plate in the win, reaching base in all six of his plate appearances. The All-American went 3-for-3 with one home run, two doubles, five runs and three walks.
Florida starting pitcher Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489> worked around a one-out error in the first, striking out two to strand a pair of baserunners. The Gators proceeded to jump on the Tigers (18-9-1, 3-6 SEC) for three runs in the bottom half, as Heyman cleared the bases with a two-out single aided by a fielding error in left field.
Auburn got one back in the second thanks to a leadoff solo homer to center field off the bat of Cooper McMurray. Caglianone stranded two more Tigers to limit the damage, then produced another zero in the third.
In the top of the fourth, Auburn grabbed its first lead of the ballgame. The Tigers tied it on a two-run homer by Caden Green, then edged ahead, 4-3, as Bobby Pierce scored on a wild pitch.
Auburn posted a four-spot in the fifth to extend the advantage to 8-3. After a Pierce RBI single, Bryson Ware connected for a three-run homer onto the right-field berm.
That would mark the extent of the scoring for Auburn, as Florida turned to the right-handed Slater in the sixth. The Palm Harbor, Fla. native went on to retire all 12 batters he faced to hold the score from the sixth inning onward, opening the door for the UF offense to strike.
Saddled with the deficit, the Orange & Blue roared back to life in the bottom of the sixth. After loading up the bases, Colby Halter<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/colby-halter/15495> worked a full count and delivered a clutch, two-run single to right field. Michael Robertson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/michael-robertson/15505> then drew a walk to force home Heyman and bring UF within two runs.
The Gators tied the game in the sixth, then took complete control in the seventh. A bases-loaded walk by Heyman brought home Langford to get it started, followed by a game-tying sacrifice fly to the right-field track by Halter. Caglianone broke the stalemate with a two-run single in the seventh while Heyman and Halter contributed an RBI single and double, respectively.
Florida busted out the fireworks in the eighth. Langford blasted his eighth homer of the campaign, sending a 1-1 offering over the left-field wall. Heyman put the exclamation point on the contest, mashing a grand slam into Dizney Grove in left-center field to make it 17-8.
Slater (4-0) earned the win, retiring all 12 Tigers he faced in order. He finished with four perfect innings and four strikeouts.
Tigers reliever Drew Nelson dropped to 2-2 after giving up three earned runs over one inning. Nelson was charged with one hit and three walks, striking out one.
Caglianone received the no-decision after allowing four earned runs across 3 1/3 innings of work. The southpaw allowed six hits and three walks while striking out three.
NOTABLES
* The Gators improved to 3-0 in SEC series and 7-0 in series overall this season.
* Florida posted its third comeback of five runs or more this season.
* The Gators scored 14 unanswered runs from the bottom of the fifth inning on.
* Heyman recorded a career-high eight RBI – the second-highest total of any Gator in a game this season (Rivera, 9).
* Heyman has homered three times across the last two Sundays.
* Langford tied his career high with five runs scored and reached base in all six of his plate appearances.
* Slater retired all 12 batters he faced to earn his fourth win of the season.
* In a game in which he started on the mound, Caglianone produced the game-winning RBI in the seventh inning.
* In games he begins as the starting pitcher, Caglianone is 10-for-27 (.370) with six home runs, one double, 12 RBI and 11 runs scored.
* Robertson extended his team-leading on-base streak to 26 games.
* Florida has struck out double-digit batters in 21 of 29 games.
* Florida has struck out 317 batters in 242 innings – translating to 11.8 per nine innings.
* Through 29 games, Florida has a run differential of plus-141.
* The Gators have scored in 120 of 230 batted innings this season (52.2%).
* The Gators have 325 hits through 29 games (11.2 hits/game).
* Florida improved to 121-135-2 all-time against Auburn including 66-45 at home.
* The Gators are 21-12 in the series under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551> featuring an 12-6 record in Gainesville.
* Florida has won 32 of the last 45 against Auburn.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the comeback…
“Some days are sometimes tough, especially when you fall behind. We did a really nice job on laying off some close pitches. Like you said, down by five. I think we drew 13 walks. Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/15522> had a career day with eight RBI. Looks like Wyatt is back. He got on base six times with three hits and three walks. Ryan Slater<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ryan-slater/15506> was just outstanding out of the bullpen.”
On Heyman’s performance…
“The thing that goes unnoticed again, I said it when we played Ole Miss, he caught really good today, too. He’s doing everything we can ask of him. Obviously, eight RBI kind of speaks for itself.”
On Langford hitting his stride…
“There was a couple of games there that looked like he had just missed a couple of pitches. The hang time on some pop ups or fly balls was seven seconds, seven and a half seconds, so you could tell he was getting close. Which you’re right, there’s no substitute for live ABs and honestly, he had a great day today.”
UP NEXT
Florida returns to action at home on Tuesday against Bethune-Cookman at 6 p.m. with coverage on SEC Network+.
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