Florida is playing in the program’s 14th College World Series including the ninth under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan.
OMAHA, Neb. – The Florida Gators are primed for their 14th College World Series appearance, opening against the No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Florida is ticketed to Omaha for the second-straight season after taking down the Stillwater Regional and Clemson Super Regional (6-1). The Gators (34-28) draw the Texas A&M Aggies (49-13) first for a rematch of SEC Opening Weekend when UF took two of three (W 8-6, L 10-6, W 4-2). Although the two teams have never faced in Omaha, the Aggies hold a 14-16 lead all-time and 4-1 advantage at neutral sites (all in Hoover, Ala.).
As for Kentucky, the Gators wield a 150-74-1 record and 6-3 mark at neutral sites despite dropping two of three in Gainesville this past May (L 12-11, W 10-1, L7-5). Wrapping up with NC State, Florida is 5-1 all-time against the Wolfpack with the last meeting coming in 2012.
Pitching Matchups
Saturday | 7 ET (ESPN)
Florida RHP Liam Peterson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/liam-peterson/16631> (3-4, 5.97 ERA)
Texas A&M LHP Justin Lamkin (2-2, 5.73 ERA)
Links WATCH<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/adad2d7a-dff5-4719-a6cd-9484e0ba03e2> | LISTEN<https://floridagators.com/showcase?Live=5460>
POSTSEASON POINTS
Playing in the program’s 14th College World Series berth, the Gators are fresh off their 10th Super Regional Title. This is Florida’s 39th NCAA Tournament, 16th Regional Title and 10th in 17 seasons under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1752> (no NCAA Tournament in 2020). The Gators have reached the postseason in every year of O’Sullivan’s tenure, earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament in 16-straight seasons, which ranks second nationally. In fact, O’Sullivan has now reached the NCAA Tournament in 25-consecutive campaigns dating back to his time at Clemson. Florida is 135-86 (.611) all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 25-26 at the College World Series (.490).
SULLY SUPERLATIVES
Since O’Sullivan’s 2008 arrival, no college program has more CWS trips (nine), Super Regionals hosted (nine), top-eight national seeds (10) and NCAA Tournament bids (16) than Florida. O’Sullivan has navigated the Gators to Omaha in nine of the last 14 postseasons. Overall, Florida’s 16-straight NCAA bids represent the second-longest active streak in the sport.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Texas A&M kickstarts the CWS with a 49-13 record and 19-11 mark in SEC play. As a team, the Aggies are slashing .300/.420/.557 with 132 home runs. On the mound, A&M wields a 3.94 ERA with 643 strikeouts in 539 innings. Defensively, the Aggies sport a .978 fielding percentage.
RELENTLESS REPTILES
By winning three-straight elimination games to claim the Stillwater Regional, the Gators have now won seven of their last eight NCAA Tournament elimination games dating back to last season. This year alone, Florida boasts 19 come-from-behind wins, with 12 of the team’s 13 SEC victories occurring in comeback fashion. The Gators wield four walk-off victories this year.
NATIONAL LEADERBOARDS
Florida ranks fifth nationally and fourth in the SEC with 131 home runs (2.1 per game). Meanwhile, the Gators sit ninth in the country and fourth in the SEC in strikeouts per nine (10.6). At .981, Florida paces the SEC and sits fifth in the NCAA in fielding percentage.
DOUBLE-DIGIT DING DONGS
For the first time since the 1998 season, Florida has seven different hitters with double-digit home runs: first baseman Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365> (33), shortstop Colby Shelton<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/colby-shelton/16639> (20), catcher Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/16370> (16), infielder/outfielder Tyler Shelnut<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-shelnut/16376> (15), second baseman Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/16372> (14), outfielder Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/16368> (13), and catcher/desginated hitter Brody Donay<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brody-donay/16621> (12). Those seven players have accounted for 123 of the Gators’ 131 home runs this season (93.9%). 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.
IT ALL FILTERS THRU AW30
On May 10, with just five regular-season games remaining, outfielder Ashton Wilson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ashton-wilson/16638> was 0-for-6 on the year. In the 14 games since, his .367 average is second on the team behind Caglianone (.408) as he has racked up 13 games, 11 starts, 18 hits and 49 at bats. Wilson has earned the No. 3 spot by posting a .597 OBP, .633 SLG, two homers, 14 RBI and 11 runs in that span. He has hits in nine of his 11 starts. In the 2024 postseason, Wilson leads UF in batting with a .414/.471/.759 slash line, two homers and nine RBI.
NEELS IS NAILS
Across four postseason appearances, right-handed pitcher Brandon Neely<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-neely/16373> has posted a 1-0 record, two saves, 1.69 ERA, .185 batting average against and 23 strikeouts vs. five walks in 16 innings. Three of his four appearances have been shutout, highlighted by 5 2/3 one-hit innings of relief with 11 strikeouts to Oklahoma State. All of Neely’s postseason relief outings have been at least 2 1/3 frames with three of his appearances being at least four innings in length.
THE BEST PLAYER IN COLLEGE BASEBALL
Caglianone delivered three extraordinary feats over the course of the regular 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. The slugger then proceeded to post a 30-game hitting streak from March 23 through May 12 to tie the all-time program mark set by Jacob Young in 2021. He now owns each of the two-most-prolific home run seasons in Gators history with 33 each of the last two years.
This season, Caglianone has slashed .411/.532/.860 with 79 runs scored and 68 RBI – all of which lead the Gators. The two-way standout ranks second nationally in home runs (second in SEC), fourth in slugging (second in SEC), sixth in batting average (second in SEC) and seventh in on-base percentage (third in SEC). On top of that, the Tampa, Fla. native has drawn 27 more walks (52) than strikeouts (25), ranking as the 70th-most-difficult hitter to strikeout in the nation with 9.4 at bats per strikeout and wielding a minuscule 8.4% K- rate.
On the mound, Caglianone wields a 5-2 record, 4.71 ERA and 10.2 strikeouts per nine. In addition to pacing the Orange & Blue in ERA, he leads in innings pitched (72.7), games started (15) and batting average against (.225), the latter of which ranks 10th in the SEC. Caglianone has allowed the sixth-fewest hits (61) and 13th-fewest homers (10) among qualified SEC hurlers.
CHECK THE FRESH LP
Freshman right-hander Liam Peterson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/liam-peterson/16631> has upped his game over the past two months. Peterson has made seven appearances (six starts) and leads the Orange & Blue with a 3.51 ERA and .227 batting average against in 25 2/3 frames. The right-hander from Palm Harbor, Fla. is 2-0 in that span with 22 hits allowed, 16 walks and 29 strikeouts. Overall, Peterson enters the CWS with a 3-4 record and 5.97 ERA, although his .253 batting average against and 10.7 strikeouts per nine paint an even better picture. As a true freshman, he ranks second on the roster in games started (14) behind Caglianone and third in innings pitched (60.1).
HEALTHY SIP OF JAMESON
Across the team’s last 27 games, righty Fisher Jameson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/fisher-jameson/16371> has made a team-high 15 appearances and produced a team-best 3.86 ERA across 32 2/3 innings. In that span, Jameson sports a 3-0 record, three saves and .240 BAA while striking out 39 batters against just six walks. He is second on the team behind Neely with a 4.82 ERA in the postseason to go along with a team-low .182 batting average against.
2-WAY 2 DOMINANT 2 HANDLE
In the 15 games Caglianone has started on the mound, he is hitting .421 (21-for-51). He has eight home runs in those 51 at bats while surrendering only 10 to the opposing 331 batters he has faced. 82 of those batters have struck out while Caglianone has only five strikeouts at the plate in the games he has pitched. Florida has won in 11 of his 15 starts.
MAGIC MIKEY
Across UF’s last 10 games, outfielder Michael Robertson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/michael-robertson/16375> is second on the team behind Caglianone with a .350 batting average and .422 on-base percentage. Robertson is 14-for-40 in that span with one home run, four doubles, 11 RBI, seven runs and one steal. As a result, he has increased his batting average from .222 to .255 and is now fifth on the roster in hitting. Most notably, Robertson went 2-for-6 with a two-run, walk-off double to give the Gators a game-two victory over Clemson as well as a trip to the College World Series.
BOMB SHELS ARE BACK
Shelton busted out of an eight-game homerless streak in Stillwater with home runs vs. Nebraska and Oklahoma St. on June 3. He finished 6-for-19 in Regionals with a team-best seven RBI, as his three-run long ball was the difference in the latter matchup. Shelton then picked up two-run scoring knocks in the clincher over Clemson, tallying three RBI.
THANK YOU, I’LL HAVE ANOTHER
Both Heyman and Kurland posted multi-homer games in the final regular-season series at No. 9 Georgia. Florida hitters have cashed in on 13 multi-homer games this season and 42 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 141-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.
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