Jac Caglianone hit his 23rd home run of the season while Luke Heyman notched three hits.
Columbia, S.C. – No. 3 Florida fell to No. 6 South Carolina, 5-2, in game two at Founders Park on Friday night.
Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489> put the Gators (31-9, 11-6 SEC) on top in the first, launching a mammoth home run to right field on the first pitch he saw to open a 1-0 lead. The big fly marked Caglianone’s nation-leading 23rd blast of the campaign.
Similarly to game one, the Gamecocks (33-6, 12-4 SEC) had an answer in the bottom of the frame. After a Braylen Wimmer walk, Cole Messina popped a two-run shot to left field to give South Carolina a 2-1 edge.
In the second, South Carolina extended its advantage to 5-1 on a two-out, three-run home run to left field by Ethan Petry.
Florida starter Hurston Waldrep<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/hurston-waldrep/15517> settled in after the second homer, striking out the sider in order in the third and working a clean fourth. The Gators took advantage, drawing within three in the top of the fifth. Michael Robertson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/michael-robertson/15505> drew a leadoff walk, advanced on a Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497> single and came in to score on a wild pitch to make it 5-2.
Waldrep kept rolling into the bottom of the fifth, setting down Carolina in order to reach 10-straight batters retired. The right-hander ran into some trouble in the sixth, but stranded a pair by striking out three-straight Gamecocks to raise his total to 10 on the night.
Clete Hartzog<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/clete-hartzog/15521> relieved Waldrep in the seventh and worked a scoreless inning to hold the score. Blake Purnell<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/blake-purnell/15502> took over in the eighth and stranded the bases loaded to send the matchup into the ninth, but the Gators stranded a lone baserunner in the final frame as the game ended in a 5-2 tally.
Waldrep (6-2) dropped his second decision of the campaign after allowing five earned runs across six frames. He was charged with six hits and three walks while striking out 10.
Gamecocks starter Jack Mahoney (4-1) earned the win after going five innings with two earned runs allowed on five hits and three walks. He fanned three.
NOTABLES
* The loss snapped a 13-series win streak dating back to last season for Florida.
* Caglianone hit his nation-leading 23rd home run.
* Waldrep struck out double-digit batters for the fourth time this season.
* Friday marked his ninth-straight start with at least seven strikeouts.
* He has struck out six or more in every outing this season.
* In the third, Waldrep struck out the side for the sixth time this season including his fourth in the month of April alone.
* Josh Rivera’s<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/josh-rivera/15504> team-leading 12-game hitting streak was snapped.
* Florida has struck out 424 batters in 343 innings – translating to 11.2 per nine innings.
* The Gators have 422 hits through 40 games (10.6 hits/game).
* Florida fell to 51-53 all-time against South Carolina including 18-30 in Columbia.
* The Gators are 16-10 vs. the Gamecocks under Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551> including 10-12 on the road.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the result…
“Yeah, just start with the pitching. They had a plan to jump Hurston’s fastball and they did a good job with that. A two run homer, or three-run homer, I think there. He settled in and did a really nice job. Kept it together, threw four scoreless and gave us a chance. We had an opportunity there in the fourth to score with a runner on third and less than two outs, got the popup. Next inning, BT grounded into the double play. You don’t get many opportunities (like that). Their pitchers throw strikes. They did a good job when they needed to in key situations in the game. I think we left nine on base. At the end of the day, last night was the bullpen. Tonight, offensively, we had some opportunities. We just got beat. It was a good baseball game. We just got beat.”
On Waldrep’s outing…
“I think he was trying to get to his off speed, he just had a little trouble commanding it. Once he started landing his curveball and started getting his split going, he did a real nice job for us.”
On the offense and bouncing back tomorrow…
“There’s not much you can say. The bottom line is they pitched really good. They don’t give you a whole lot, so when you have your opportunities to score runs with a runner on third and less than two outs, you gotta cash in. Not to say that would have made a difference in the game, because they did make big pitches when they needed to. We’re just going to have to come out tomorrow, put it all together and come out of here with a win.”
UP NEXT
Florida and South Carolina meet in the series finale on Saturday afternoon with coverage on SEC Network+ at 2 p.m. Left-hander Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489> will take the ball for the Orange & Blue.
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