Florida is 16-11 across the last nine series vs. Georgia including seven series victories in that span.
ATHENS, Ga. – The Florida Gators close out the regular season with a three-game series at the No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs spanning from Thursday through Saturday.
All three matchups in the series wil stream on SEC Network+, with games one and two scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday. The series finale is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday.
While the Gators (26-25, 11-16 SEC) have won 16 of the last 27 meetings dating back through 2014 including series wins in two of the previous three, the Bulldogs (38-12, 16-11 SEC) swept the last series in Athens back in 2022. Even so, Florida holds a commanding 193-115-2 lead in the all-time series and is 86-64-1 vs. Georgia on the road. The Gators are 30-17 in the series under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1752>, highlighted by an 11-10 mark in Athens.
Pitching Matchups
Thursday | 6 ET (SECN+) Friday | 6 ET (SECN+) Saturday | 2 ET (SECN+)
Florida LHP Pierce Coppola<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/pierce-coppola/16367> (0-2, 7.27 ERA) RHP Liam Peterson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/liam-peterson/16631> (2-4, 5.92 ERA) LHP Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365> (5-1, 4.07 ERA)
Georgia RHP Kolten Smith (8-2, 4.72 ERA) RHP Leighton Finley (5-1, 4.45 ERA) TBA
Links WATCH<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/faaa0eba-7e2f-4a51-960e-34589f63d711> | LISTEN<https://floridagators.com/showcase?Live=5433> WATCH<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/3065196d-f088-4b82-807e-4c85040d35ed> | LISTEN<https://floridagators.com/showcase?Live=5434> WATCH<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/e0a1c0a5-6eaf-496c-bc96-e86659a34761> | LISTEN<https://floridagators.com/showcase?Live=5436>
DIRT ON THE DAWGS
Georgia comes into this weekend’s regular-season series finale slashing .307/1.047/.607 with 133 homers. The Dawgs boast a record of 38-12 overall and are 16-11 in the SEC. Georgia’s pitching staff has combined for a 5.31 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in 423 1/3 innings of work.
LAST TIME OUT
The Gators went 2-2 last week, defeating USF on Tuesday (W 4-1) before dropping two of three at home to No. 4 Kentucky (L 12-11, W 10-1, L 7-5). Both of Florida’s losses in the series were in 10 innings. Infielder Dale Thomas<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/dale-thomas/16378> (5-for-9) and first baseman/left-handed pitcher Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365> (5-for-9) led the Gators at the plate while infielder Colby Shelton<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/colby-shelton/16639> (3-for-12) and catcher Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/16370> (3-for-14) blasted two home runs apiece. Caglianone (6.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) and right-hander Liam Peterson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/liam-peterson/16631> (W, 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) were both excellent on the bump, turning in Florida’s first set of back-to-back quality starts of the 2024 season in games two and three.
RELENTLESS REPTILES
Florida boasts 13 come-from-behind wins on the season, with nine of the team’s 10 SEC victories occurring in comeback fashion. The Gators wield three walk-off victories this year.
THE SEC’S FINEST
Across their last 80 conference tilts, the Gators have gone 48-32 vs. SEC opponents featuring a 40-29 regular-season mark.
WEEKEND WARRIORS
Despite the series loss to No. 4 Kentucky, the Gators have claimed 22 of their last 30 three-game, regular-season series dating back to the 2022 season including 15 of 23 in SEC play. The Gators are 49-29 in weekend series since the start of last season and 58-32 across the team’s previous 30 series.
NATIONAL LEADERBOARDS
Florida ranks eighth nationally and fourth in the SEC with 107 home runs this season (2.1 per game). Meanwhile, the Gators sit 13th in the country and fifth in the conference in strikeouts per nine innings (10.6). At .980, Florida ranks third in the SEC and 14th in the NCAA in fielding percentage.
ALL EYES ON THE STREAK
With an eighth-inning single in the finale vs. Kentucky on Sunday, Caglianone tied Jacob Young’s program record (2021) with a 30-game hitting streak, which is tied for the seventh-longest single-season hit streak in SEC history and the conference’s longest since 2016. Caglianone is hitting .430/.561/.981 (46-for-107) with 19 homers, 26 walks and eight strikeouts across the streak, which dates back to March 23 vs. LSU. He has also reached base safely in 37-straight contests and in 50 of 51 games this season.
DOUBLE-DIGIT JACKS x 7
For the first time since the 1998 season, Florida has seven different hitters with double-digit home runs: Caglianone (28), Shelton (18), outfielder Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/16368> (13), infielder/outfielder Tyler Shelnut<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-shelnut/16376> (13), Heyman (11), infielder Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/16372> (10) and catcher/designated hitter Brody Donay<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brody-donay/16621> (10). Those seven players have accounted for 103 of the Gators’ 107 home runs this season (96.3%). In 1998, Florida was led by Brad Wilkerson with 23 home runs, followed by David Ross (19), Jason Dill (16), Derek Nicholson (15), Mark Ellis (14), Greg Catalanotte (13) and Casey Smith (12). Last year’s SEC Championship team had six players hit 10-plus homers highlighted by five with 17-plus.
CAGLIANONE’S GOLDEN SEASON
After homering in an NCAA-record nine-straight games from April 6-19, Caglianone followed the act with an equally brilliant one by going 66-consecutive plate appearances without a strikeout from April 7-27. At present, the slugger ranks as the 36th-most-difficult hitter to strike out in the country with 10.9 at bats per strikeout. Caglianone’s unparalleled power-contact combination has fueled him to an 18-to-38 strikeout-to-walk ratio, 7.4% strikeout rate and 28 home runs on the season, the latter of which is tied for second nationally. He now owns each of the two-most-prolific home run seasons in Gators history, setting the team record with 33 last season while his 28 bombs this year are the second-most in club history.
Caglianone paces the Gators in virtually every offensive statistic including batting average (.418), OBP (.529), slugging (.862), OPS (1.391), hits (82), homers, RBI (55), runs (62) and walks (38). The two-way standout ranks second in the SEC in hits, homers, total bases (169), batting average (seventh in NCAA) and slugging (fifth), third in OBP (10th), fifth in runs scored and t-11th in RBI.
On the mound, Caglianone is 5-1 and his .214 batting average against is the seventh-best in the SEC, as the southpaw has been charged with the fifth-fewest hits allowed and third-fewest homers surrendered among qualified SEC hurlers while ranking 14th in the conference with 59 2/3 innings pitched.
CHECK THE FRESH LP
Peterson has figured it out on the hill since Florida’s trip to Nashville to take on No. 13 Vanderbilt from April 18-20. In his last four outings, Peterson has allowed just two runs on 10 hits across 14.0 innings for a 1.29 ERA and .196 batting average against. The rookie has allowed just one home run in his last six appearances after surrendering 12 homers in his first seven collegiate games. Across his last two weekend starts vs. No. 3 Tennessee and No. 4 Kentucky, Peterson went 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA and .171 BAA, as he gave up just one run while striking out 13 batters in 10 frames.
COPPOLA’S COMEBACK
Redshirt sophomore southpaw Pierce Coppola<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/pierce-coppola/16367> is coming off his two best starts of the season, allowing two runs (one earned) across 5 2/3 combined innings with nine strikeouts vs. two walks vs. No. 4 Kentucky and No. 2 Arkansas. This week’s outing vs. Georgia marks his fifth start of the campaign after returning to the mound for the first time in 783 days to start on April 13 vs. South Carolina.
LAST TIME I SAW YOU
On April 16 last season, Caglianone ran his record to 4-1 with a win over Georgia in the final game of the series. Cags tossed five complete innings vs. the Bulldogs, allowing two runs on four hits. Offensively, he scored three runs and collected seven RBI, hitting a three-run homer and a grand slam.
HEALTHY SIP OF JAMESON
Across the team’s last 15 games, right-handed pitcher Fisher Jameson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/fisher-jameson/16371> has made eight appearances for a team-low 3.57 ERA across 17 2/3 innings. In that span, Jameson has struck out 22 batters while issuing just three walks. He wields a 1-0 record, two saves and a .246 batting average against in his previous eight outings.
CLEMENTE CRUISING
Redshirt freshman righty Jake Clemente<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jake-clemente/16366> has not given up an earned run across his last seven appearances, having last been charged with an earned run on March 12. Since then, Clemente is 2-0 with 11 1/3 innings pitched, one unearned run allowed for a 0.00 ERA, 10 hits allowed, seven walks and 16 strikeouts. He has strung together five-straight scoreless appearances spanning 7 1/3 innings.
2-WAY 2 DOMINANT 2 HANDLE
In the 12 games Caglianone has started on the mound, he is hitting .432 (19-for-44). He has six home runs in those 44 at bats while surrendering only four to the opposing 266 batters he has faced. 66 of those batters have struck out while Caglianone has only two strikeouts at the plate in the games he has pitched. Florida has won in nine of Caglianone’s 12 starts
THANK YOU, I’LL HAVE ANOTHER
Both Shelton and Heyman collected multi-homer games this past weekend vs. Kentucky. Shelton’s two knocks in Friday’s game one marked the fifth time he has hit two home runs in a game this season. Heyman launched two homers in Saturday’s game, giving him the second multi-homer game of his Gator career after hitting two bombs last year at Ole Miss. Florida hitters have cashed in on 11 multi-homer games this season and 40 in the past three years (2022-24), after having batters collect just 32 multi-homer games in the previous 10 seasons prior (2012-21).
THE SCORING STREAK
Florida’s scoring streak of 130-consecutive games is the third-longest in program history (May 27, 2022-present). The only longer streaks in team history have occurred from March 12, 1995-April 7, 1999 (268 games) and from 1957-63 (184). The Gators were last shut out on May 26, 2022 vs. Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament.
SULLY SUPERLATIVES
Since O’Sullivan’s 2008 arrival, no college program has more CWS trips (8), Super Regionals hosted (nine), top-eight national seeds (10) and NCAA Tournament bids (15) than the Florida Gators. Overall, Florida’s 15-straight NCAA bids represent the second-longest active streak in the sport. The Gators have also hosted 12 NCAA Regionals out of a possible 15 during O’Sullivan’s tenure (no NCAA Tournament in 2020), which ranks first in the nation.
ON DECK
Florida awaits its fate in the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala., which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, May 21.
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