Tyler Shelnut drove in three and Jac Caglianone finished 3-for-3 as numerous young UF pitchers shined.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida used scoreless outings from eight different pitchers to defeat Georgia by a final score of 7-5 at 121 Financial Ballpark on Friday night.
After a clean top of the first inning featuring two strikeouts from starter Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489>, the Gators went to the bullpen and the Bulldogs quickly plated a pair of runs. Josh Stinson drove in the first on an RBI single to right and Clayton Chadwick later crossed home on a passed ball.
Freshmen hurlers Luke McNeillie and Liam Peterson threw consecutive scoreless frames in the third and fourth, opening the door for the Orange & Blue to battle back. Tyler Shelnut<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-shelnut/15515> led the charge in the bottom half of the fourth, producing a two-run double to left-center tie the game at two runs apiece.
Southpaw Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/15513> kept the momentum in the top of the fifth, hurling a perfect inning to hold the score. The Gators again posted a crooked number, scoring three runs beginning with a ground-rule double to right off the bat of Caglianone. Shelnut then drove in his third run of the night with an RBI fielder’s choice to shortstop, followed by a passed ball that brought Caglianone across home.
With a 5-2 lead in hand, Florida turned to freshman southpaw Robert Satin, who promptly set down three in a row to retire the side. Leading off the bottom of the seventh, Dale Thomas<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/dale-thomas/15512> bashed a solo shot to left field. Colby Shelton then swatted an automatic double to the right-field corner to plate Michael Robertson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/michael-robertson/15505> and extend the UF advantage to 7-2.
Georgia responded in the eighth, scoring three runs highlighted by an RBI triple from Charlie Condon to make it 7-5. From there, the Gators turned to righty Ryan Slater<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ryan-slater/15506> to calm the tide. Slater worked Florida out of the eighth and churned out a zero in the ninth.
Right-hander Blake Purnell<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/blake-purnell/15502> pitched the 10th and final inning for Florida, picking up the save with one hit allowed and one strikeout.
Fisher earned the victory, throwing one perfect inning of relief with one strikeout. Georgia reliever Jarvis Evans was saddled with the loss, surrendering three runs (two earned) on two hits and one walk in one-third of an inning.
Shelton (2-for-3) and Caglianone (3-for-3) collected multiple hits in the victory.
NOTABLES
* With the win, Florida takes a 3-1 series lead over Georgia in the fall exhibition series in Jacksonville (2019, 2022, 2023).
* This year’s meeting marked the third-straight year of fall competition between the Gators and Bulldogs and the fourth matchup in the last five falls (2019, 2021-23)
* Shelnut produced a game-tying, two-run double in the bottom of the fourth.
* He finished with a game-high three RBI.
* Florida’s first seven pitchers all registered at least one strikeout.
* Every Florida pitcher that recorded an out notched a strikeout.
* Caglianone, McNeillie, Peterson, Fisher, Satin, Slater and Purnell all tossed scoreless innings.
* Thomas launched a solo home run in the seventh inning.
* Landon Russell doubled to right-center in the ninth inning.
* Friday’s official attendance was 6,235.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On tonight’s exhibition game…
“It was really unique for us. I think we threw five freshman tonight against an older lineup. I think six of their 10 guys that they started were either seniors or grads. I thought the young guys, for the most part, held it together in an environment like this. We had those two innings. We gave up two runs in the second, three there late. And obviously, we had a couple of walks and couple of hit by pitches that probably hurt us a little bit. All in all, I was pleased with the pitching. Took us a little bit to get going offensively, but in games like this when you see a new pitcher every inning, it’s hard to get into a rhythm. All in all, it was a good learning experience. Obviously, we got a lot of things we’ve got to improve on. We had some baserunning stuff tonight. We had a passed ball we didn’t advance on and a couple of other things. Defensively, we were fine, other than one error we made there turning a double play. It was a clean game and like I said, the biggest takeaway is the environment, because you can’t really simulate that in practice. We have so many new faces, so to be in this environment is good for them.”
UP NEXT
Florida hosts in-state foe Stetson in a pair of seven inning games beginning at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 5. Although the matchup is not televised, admission is free for all fans.
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