The Gators capped a long day by defeating Texas Tech on Sunday night to force a winner-take-all rematch against the Red Raiders on Monday afternoon at Condron Ballpark.
WHAT HAPPENED: Playing their second elimination game of the day, the Gators defeated Texas Tech 7-1 on Sunday night to force a winner-take-all Gainesville Regional championship game on Monday at noon. Florida broke open a scoreless game in the top of the sixth with four runs, avenging a 5-4 loss to the Red Raiders on Saturday night.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489> once again was in the middle of the action. In Florida’s 8-2 win over UConn earlier in the day, Caglianone hit two home runs and drove in five runs. He delivered in a more subtle way against the Red Raiders, lining an RBI single to right to snap a scoreless tie in the top of the sixth and spark a four-run outburst. What made Caglianone’s hit so impactful was that it immediately followed a disaster on the bases for the Gators. With runners at second and third and nobody out, Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497> hit a ground ball to third base. Richie Schiekofer<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/richie-schiekofer/15520> was thrown out at home on the play, and then Langford got hung out between first and second, prompting Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/15514> to try and score from second. Kurland was thrown out at the plate, resulting in a 5-2-6-3-2 double play that ended with Langford at second base, in scoring position for Caglianone.
STAGGERING STAT: The Gators got 18 strikeouts in 14 innings from their two starting pitchers Sunday: Hurston Waldrep<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/hurston-waldrep/15517> and Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/15513>. Meanwhile, Waldrep and Fisher allowed only 10 hits and posted a 1.29 ERA.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Freshman left-hander Fisher had made 20 appearances prior to Sunday, 19 of those coming in relief. However, Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551> turned to Fisher to start his team’s second do-or-die game of the day and Fisher turned in a spectacular performance. Fisher limited Texas Tech to five hits and a run over seven innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out six. Fisher carried a shutout into the bottom of the eighth before being replaced by Brandon Neely<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-neely/15499> after the first two batters in the inning reached.
KEY MOMENT: Fisher avoided any serious trouble Sunday, but in the sixth he hit Red Raiders leadoff batter Nolen Hester, and after retiring Kevin Bazzell, Fisher hit Gage Harrelson with a pitch. But with two runners on and one out, Fisher retired the next two betters to preserve Florida’s 4-0 lead.
BY THE NUMBERS: 84 — RBI for Caglianone, one shy of matching the school record established by Preston Tucker in 2009; 10 — Batters sent to the plate by the Gators in their four-run sixth inning that snapped a scoreless tie.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On Fisher’s performance…
“He was outstanding. It was a tough night to hit, obviously with anything that was hit in the air. I thought we had some really good at bats and hit some balls hard. It was a bit frustrating those first four innings, but Cade was outstanding. We didn’t walk anyone over the nine innings and we kept pounding the strike zone. We probably should’ve started [Brandon] Neely in the eighth to be honest with you, Cade gave up the double and they had a nice push bunt by the leadoff hitter, but Cade was outstanding. Same thing to be said about Hurtson [Waldrep]. We wouldn’t be in the position to have enough pitching for tomorrow if we didn’t those two starts from Hurtson and from Cade. We are in good shape for tomorrow. I know you are going to ask me who is going to start, I don’t know yet, but we have options. We’ve got a bunch of guys that have pitched in big-leverage situations that will be available tomorrow. It will be a collective group, but we feel good about the four or five guys that we have that can handle the moment.”
On Waldrep’s outing in the early game…
“It was outstanding. We knew that this morning’s game was going to be really difficult. Just like last year against Central Michigan, when you get in the loser’s bracket, no one wants their season to end. He was outstanding. He wanted to go back out after 100 pitches and I said no that’s it, what do we have three games ahead of us. Somebody else will have to pick up the slack here, certainly (Nick Ficarrotta) did.”
On the defense…
“We didn’t make any errors and didn’t walk anybody. That’s a recipe for success. Colby (Halter)’s play at third was probably a game-changer because that would’ve opened things up for them, but that play was unbelievable.”
On the team’s resiliency…
“Second and third with nobody out, you’re not going on contact there you have to see it through. We made a baserunning blunder there. One out, you go on contact and try to get in a rundown, get a bunt and give Wyatt (Langford) a chance to get to second. Wyatt tried to create something that probably wasn’t there. But (Jac Caglianone)’s at bat to get on the board, because it felt like if you get three runs or four, that might be enough tonight with the way the wind was blowing as long as you didn’t walk anybody.”
NOTABLES
* Sunday night’s game was delayed due to weather by one hour and 30 minutes.
* The Gators are playing in their second-straight NCAA Regional final against a Big-12 opponent.
* The Gators have played in 10 Regional finals under Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551>.
* Florida is now 122-83 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
* The Gators are 85-51 in NCAA Regional play.
* UF is hosting its 19th NCAA Regional while making the 38th Regional appearance in program history.
* Florida has hosted 12 out of a possible 15 Regionals in the O’Sullivan era.
* Making his second-career start, Fisher pitched a career-high seven innings while striking out six to tie his personal best.
* The freshman allowed just one earned run on five hits.
* Kurland was hit by a pitch for the 20th time this season, which now ranks second all-time in a season at UF behind David Eckstein (25 – 1997).
* Caglianone now has 84 RBI on the season, one away from tying Preston Tucker (2009) for the most in a single season at UF.
* Langford hit his 24th double of the season to drive in two runs in the ninth, bringing him within four of tying Mike Zunino’s single-season program record of 28.
* Florida has struck out 638 batters in 532 innings – translating to 10.8 per nine innings, which would mark a new program record.
* The Gators have 600 hits through 62 games (9.7 hits/game).
* The Gators have scored in 44.2% of batted innings (223 of 505).
* Florida is now 2-3 all-time vs. Texas Tech, all of which have taken place in the postseason in the O’Sullivan era.
UP NEXT: Florida and Texas Tech meet for the third time in the Gainesville Regional on Monday at 12 p.m., this one for the regional championship and a Super Regional berth.
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