Florida jumped out to a 3-0 lead through three innings but Tennesse plated 16 unanswered runs.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida was defeated by No. 3 Tennessee, 16-3, in seven innings at Condron Family Ballpark on Saturday night.
After a scoreless top half of the first from starter Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365>, the Gators (24-23, 10-14 SEC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead against the Volunteers (39-9, 17-7) in the bottom of the frame. Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/16372> led off with a double to right-center, then Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/16368> launched a two-run home run to left field to open the scoring.
Caglianone fired two more zeros in the second and third, opening the door for the Orange & Blue to add to its edge. In the bottom half of the third, Caglianone singled with two outs and scored all the way from first to push the score to 3-0 as Evans reached on a throwing error by third baseman Billy Amick.
Tennessee broke through in the fourth, scoring two to cut its deficit to 3-2. With two outs, Hunter Ensley doubled to left on a full count to plate Dean Curley and Amick. Caglianone rebounded in the fifth to blank the Vols while registering his fifth strikeout of the evening.
In the sixth, Tennessee posted an 11-spot to take a 13-3 advantage, highlighted by a two-run double and three-run home run off the bat of Ensley. Curley also produced a pair of RBI singles in the outburst.
The Vols added three more runs in the seventh on a two-run shot to right from Christian Moore and Burke solo home run to left-center. That brought the score to its final tally of 16-3 as the matchup ended in seven innings.
Tennessee reliever Nate Snead (8-1) earned the win, pitching the final five innings of the game and allowing one unearned run. The right-hander was charged with two hits allowed, one walk and seven strikeouts.
Caglianone (5-1) suffered his first loss of the season, surrendering four earned runs over five-plus frames. He finished with six hits allowed, two walks and five strikeouts.
Vols starter Zander Sechrist did not factor into the decision despite lasting just two innings and giving up two earned runs. He allowed two hits and struck out one.
NOTABLES
* Saturday night’s official attendance was 7,335.
* Florida’s scoring streak of 127-consecutive games is now tied for the third-longest in program history (May 27, 2022-present).
* Caglianone extended his on-base streak to 33 games and hitting streak to 26 in a row.
* Caglianone has hit safely in 45 of 47 games while reaching safely in all but one contest.
* Evans added to his career high with his 13th homer of the season.
* The Gators are 53-18 at home since the start of last season despite a 17-11 record at Condron Family Ballpark in 2024.
* Across the team’s last 77 tilts against SEC teams, Florida is 47-30.
* That includes a 39-27 regular-season mark.
* The Gators are 48-27 in weekend series since the start of last season and 57-30 across their last 29 series.
* Florida is now 157-97 all-time vs. Tennessee including an 84-46 mark in Gainesville.
* The Gators are 27-23 against the Vols under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1752> (13-11 at home).
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On how the game unfolded…
“[I’ve been] doing this long time and I can’t remember a game that had this type of importance to it and it spiraled out of control like this. This team has been a difficult one to figure out. We have the ability to play with anybody and we have the ability to play like this. So, the bottom line is, their hitters outcompeted our pitchers there in the beginning, they fouled pitches off over and over and over and then they forced us to make a mistake, you know, hanging breaking ball or hit a guy with a backup breaking ball. Then we just couldn’t stop the bleeding. We didn’t block the ball there and threw it away… It’s really disappointing, honestly.”
On the message to the team…
“We all we just got to keep going forward. We still got two series ahead, got South Florida on Tuesday. Obviously, that’s a really important game for us and, just keep coaching them up. But you’re right, we’ve tried, we’ve tried to push every single button and for whatever reason, this this team has not been able to figure it out or respond. Obviously, that falls on me. But, it’s not from a lack of effort. It’s just disappointing like I said and maybe you know, maybe the [2021] Regional, South Alabama, other than that game, I can’t remember a really important game getting away from us like this. It’s not what Florida Baseball is about. It’s not what this program is about. So, it’s disappointing. We had a great crowd all weekend long, and it just spiraled out of control.”
UP NEXT
Florida hosts USF on Tuesday night, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.
###
