Jac Caglianone delivered two homers and seven RBI while picking up the win with five two-run frames.
Gainesville, Fla. – No. 3 Florida swatted 12 hits including three home runs to claim the series against Georgia with an 11-6 win in front of a crowd of 6,087 at Condron Family Ballpark on Sunday afternoon.
Josh Rivera<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/josh-rivera/15504> (3-for-5) and Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489> (2-for-4) launched home runs in the victory, with the latter leaving the yard twice. Also picking up the win on the mound with five strong innings of two-run ball, Caglianone drove in seven runs thanks to an eighth-inning grand slam that put the contest out of reach.
Caglianone fired a scoreless first inning, paving the way for the Gators (30-7, 11-4 SEC) to open up a two-run lead. Caglianone drew a one-out walk, then Rivera pounced on the first pitch he saw for a two-run homer to right-center field – his 14th big fly of the campaign.
Michael Robertson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/michael-robertson/15505> made it 3-0 with an RBI single to left center in the second, but the Gators did not stop there. With two runners on, Caglianone connected for his 20th home run of the season to push the advantage to 6-0.
The Bulldogs (19-17, 4-11 SEC) broke through in the fourth, using a solo home run by Corey Collins to cut the deficit to 6-1. Ben Anderson brought Georgia within four runs, tripling in the fifth and coming home on a failed pickoff attempt by BT Riopelle<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/bt-riopelle/15503>.
With a 6-2 lead, Florida turned to the bullpen in the sixth. Left-hander Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/15513> entered with two Bulldogs in scoring position and no outs and forced three groundouts to strand a pair.
Georgia drew within three in the seventh thanks to doubles by Anderson and Charlie Condon. The Dawgs then made it 6-4 in the eighth on a bases-loaded walk by Condon.
The Gators staked an insurance claim in the bottom of the eighth, beginning with an RBI single to left field by Robertson. Florida then loaded the bases for Caglianone, who promptly unloaded on an opposite-field grand slam onto the left field berm – his second blast of the day.
The Bulldogs plated two late runs in the ninth on a pinch-hit homer from Cole Wagner, but Nick Ficarrotta<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/nick-ficarrotta/15493> retired the next two batters in order to cement an 11-6 victory and series win for the Orange & Blue.
Caglianone (4-1) earned his fourth victory of the season, allowing two earned runs across five innings of work. The southpaw gave up four hits and two walks while striking out four batters.
Georgia starter Liam Sullivan (4-2) was saddled with the loss. The left-hander surrendered six earned runs on seven hits and two walks in 3 1/3 frames while striking out four.
NOTABLES
* Florida’s combined series attendance of 20,713 marked the second-highest in program history.
* The Gators improved to 9-0 in series this season including 13-0 dating back to 2022.
* Florida won 30 games for the 15th time in 16 seasons under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551>.
* The only season the Gators fell short was in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign (16-1).
* Caglianone became the 20th Gator to hit 20 home runs in a single season and the fastest-ever Florida player to do so.
* Caglianone accomplished the feat in 37 games, breaking Jud Fabian’s<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jud-fabian/15127> record of 49 games. He is the only Gator to ever reach 20 homers in the month of April.
* On days he is the starting pitcher, Caglianone is 12-for-35 with eight home runs, one double, 19 RBI and 14 runs scored.
* Saturday marked his second multi-homer game of the season as the starting pitcher (March 26 vs. Ole Miss)
* Of Caglianone’s four multi-homer games this season, three have come when he was the starting pitcher.
* Rivera extended his team-leading hitting streak to 10 games.
* Riopelle extended his team-high on-base streak to 17 games.
* Halter’s on-base streak of 15 games was snapped.
* Florida has struck out 398 batters in 320 1/3 innings – translating to 11.2 per nine innings.
* Through 37 games, Florida has a run differential of plus-150.
* The Gators have scored in 142 of 296 batted innings this season (48.0%).
* The Gators have 384 hits through 36 games (10.7 hits/game).
* Florida improved to 193-115-2 all-time against Georgia including 101-44-1 at home.
* The Gators are 30-17 vs. the Bulldogs under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551>, featuring an 18-6 mark in Gainesville.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On bouncing back after Friday’s loss…
“I thought we responded really well. Different type of ballgame yesterday obviously, and a different one today. We lost a tough one on Friday. You kind of hang your head and let it leak into Saturday, that type of thing. Cags was special today… On the mound gave us five really good innings, and offensively with the two home runs and seven RBI. Our top three guys had really good games today, offensively. I thought Michael Roberston had a really good weekend too, honestly.”
On fighting through injuries…
“We’re a little banged up. Wyatt’s been a little banged up and kind of fighting through some stuff over the last week. Obviously, Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/15491> and BT got hit on Friday night. His left hand has been a little bit swollen. We’re at that part of the season where guys are going to get a little nicked up and that type of thing. I knew today was going to be difficult.”
On the pitching…
“We had a really good game all the way around other than walks. It’s tough to watch at times. We did just enough. A lot of guys made some big pitches when they needed to. I think other than Jac, maybe the turning point in the game was Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/15513> coming in with runners on second and third 1-1 count and got three ground balls. Good game. Obviously, the walks we got to get cleaned up. It was a hard-fought series for sure”
UP NEXT
Florida concludes a five-game homestand with a 6 p.m. Tuesday matchup against Florida A&M.
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