GAINESVILE, Fla. – No. 4 Florida prevailed over St. Mary’s in a back-and-forth affair thanks to a three-run, walk-off home run by Colby Shelton<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/colby-shelton/16639> in the 10th inning to secure a 12-11 victory at Condron Family Ballpark on Friday night.
In a matchup with five lead changes, each of the first-five hitters in the UF lineup collected at least one hit, one run and one RBI. The charge was led by Shelton, who went 3-for-6 with a trio of run-scoring knocks including his team-leading seventh and eighth long balls of the campaign – the latter of which turned an 11-9 Gators deficit into a 12-11 win.
The Gaels (8-5) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on the Gators (9-4) in the opening frame. Ryan Pierce singled through the right side to score Gavin Napier, followed by a sacrifice fly to left-center from Coleman Schmidt to plate Christian Almanza.
The 2-0 deficit was short-lived, as Florida’s bats came roaring out of the gate as well to regain the edge at 3-2. Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/16372> and Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365> set the table with a walk and single, allowing Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/16370>, Shelton and Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/16368> to take the lead with three-consecutive RBI singles to right field.
Answering right back, the Gaels added two runs to regain a 4-3 lead in the second. Connor Harrison doubled in Brian Duroff for the first while a throwing error at second base allowed Harrison to cross home for the go-ahead run.
The Gators evened the tally at four runs apiece in the bottom of the second. After smacking a one-out triple to right field, Kurland raced home on a groundout to first base off the bat of Caglianone.
Following a scoreless inning from starter Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/16369> in the third, Florida regained the lead in the bottom half. With runners on second and third, Brody Donay<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brody-donay/16621> fouled off four pitches before producing a clutch, two-run double down the left-field line to bring in Tyler Shelnut<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-shelnut/16376> and Evans for a 6-4 UF advantage.
Saint Mary’s drew within one in the fourth, with Almanza singling to right to score Jared Mettam. The Orange & Blue got the run right back, as Shelton blasted a long homer to right-center field with two outs in the bottom of the fourth to push the score to 7-5.
Fisher concluded his outing with a scoreless fifth inning before ceding duties to Ryan Slater<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ryan-slater/16377>. The right-hander proceeded to work around a one-out walk for zero, aided by a runner caught stealing on a laser from Heyman.
With the Gaels held in check, Florida pushed its lead to 8-5 in the sixth. Caglianone and Heyman hit one-out singles, allowing Evans to drive in the former with a two-out single to left field.
Slater churned out another scoreless frame in the seventh, as UF again took advantage and put a run on the board to make it 9-5. Donay singled with one out, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Michael Robertson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/michael-robertson/16375> and scored on an RBI single up the middle by Kurland.
Closer Brandon Neely<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-neely/16373> entered after a leadoff single in the eighth, allowing the inherited baserunner to score on a sacrifice fly by Napier before striking out Almanza to end the inning.
The Gaels made things interesting before it was over, knotting up the game in the ninth at nine runs apiece. Pinch-hitter Aiden Taurek doubled in two runs while Chris Esquivel plated Taurek on a sac fly down the left-field line.
The game remained tied into the 10th, when Almanza broke the stalemate with a two-run home run to left-center field. Righty Fisher Jameson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/fisher-jameson/16371> entered as a result, calming the tide and holding the score at 11-9 going into bottom-10.
One final lead change was in order in the bottom of the 10th. Armando Albert<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/armando-albert/16619> led off with a double down the left-field line and Caglianone followed by drawing a walk. With one out, Shelton went the other way on a first-pitch slider to end the game with a three-run, walk-off home run onto the left-field berm for a thrilling 12-11 Gators victory.
Jameson (1-0) picked up the win, pitching one scoreless inning on one hit and one strikeout. Gaels reliever Preston Howey (1-1) was saddled with the loss, giving up three runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out seven.
Fisher was handed a no-decision, going five innings with five runs allowed (four earned) on seven hits and two walks. The southpaw fanned eight batters.
Saint Mary’s starter Derik Eaquinto (2-1) also received a no-decision, surrendering seven runs (six earned) in four frames. He was charged with seven hits allowed, two walks and four strikeouts.
Kurland (2-for-4), Caglianone (2-for-5), Heyman (2-for-4), Shelton, Evans (2-for-4) and Donay (2-for-4) picked up multiple hits in the win.
NOTABLES
* Friday night’s official attendance was 5,229.
* The first five hitters in the UF lineup all collected at least one hit, one run and one RBI.
* Across his last three starts, Fisher has gone 2-0 while striking out 23 batters against two walks.
* The Gators erased three separate deficits in Friday’s win.
* Shelton hit his team-leading seventh and eighth home runs of the season.
* It signified Florida’s first walk-off home run since BT Riopelle<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/bt-riopelle/15503> accomplished the feat vs. Alabama on May 24, 2023 at the SEC Tournament.
* Shelton recorded his first three-hit game as a Gator.
* Florida scored runs in each of the first-four innings for the first time since March 3, 2022 vs. USF.
* Caglianone extended his season-opening hitting streak to 13 games.
* Heyman and Shelton moved their on-base streaks to 13-straight contests.
* Kurland collected the first triple of his career.
* Florida improved to 1-0 all-time against St. Mary’s.
* The Gators are now 3-1 all-time vs. the West Coast Conference.
* Florida rose to 42-9 at home since the start of 2023 including 27-5 in home series.
* The Gators are 37-12 in weekend series since the start of last season and 46-15 across the team’s previous 21 series at any venue.
* Dating back to last season, Florida is 31-7 in regular season non-conference games and has won 22 of its last 26 such contests.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the back-and-forth victory…
“First of all, we won a ballgame, and we won it in a way that we hadn’t won any games like that this year. So at least it gives you some confidence, knowing we can come back against their best arm. Armando came off the bench and put a really good at-bat together. Jac battled and got the walk. Obviously, Colby was sitting on a slider and went the other way. It’s a great win for us, there’s no question. We swung the bats extremely well tonight against some good arms. We told our team that Saint Mary’s was going to be good. Pitching-wise, they throw strikes, they have the guy at the back-end of the game that you saw tonight, he had a really good slider. He was up to 95 or whatever it was and their middle relief was good. They kind of kept things together for a couple innings, but our offense did a heck of a job. But make no mistake about it, we informed our team that this is a good team, you know it’s physical and they’re on fastballs and it’s not your typical west coast team playing a bunch of small ball stuff. We made mistakes that they made us pay for.”
On the resiliency…
“It’s certainly better than the alternatives… we gave up a lead late and we lost the ball game. There are positives and there’s negatives of what happened tonight, but the biggest positive is we came back, down in the bottom half of the 10th or 11th inning and we strung together some really good at bats against a really good arm. In a game like this, I didn’t really say a whole lot to the team at the end of the game, because you don’t want to take away the excitement of winning the game. A bad win is better than a good loss, so you know let them enjoy it, but we will handle some of this stuff again tomorrow.”
FROM INFIELDER COLBY SHELTON
On the walk-off winner…
“Yeah, there is nothing cooler than it. Walk-off in the home stadium, get a win for this team, there’s no cooler feeling. It’s hard to describe, but the feeling is ecstatic it feels great.”
UP NEXT
Florida and St. Mary’s battle in game two on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+. Freshman right-hander Liam Peterson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/liam-peterson/16631> (1-1, 3.75 ERA) takes the bump for the Gators against southpaw Dylan Delvecchio (1-0, 1.88 ERA) of the Gaels.
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