Florida hammered 14 hits behind a two-hitter highlighted by Liam Peterson’s collegiate debut.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – No. 4 Florida used a 14-hit barrage backed by a two-hitter on the mound to defeat North Florida, 10-0, in seven innings at Harmon Stadium on Tuesday night.
The story of the matchup for the Orange & Blue was the collegiate debut of freshman right-hander Liam Peterson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/liam-peterson/16631>, who dazzled with seven strikeouts across three innings to earn the win in his first-career start. At the plate, Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/16372> (4-for-5) led the way with a career-high four hits while scoring four runs. Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365> (2-for-3) also connected on his first long ball of the year and produced a team-high four RBI.
It began with the Gators (1-1) putting two runs on the Ospreys (1-2) right out of the gate. Kurland led off with a single to third base, allowing Caglianone to uncork a long, two-run homer to right field. The very next inning, Kurland doubled down the left-field line and came in to score on an RBI single through the left side by Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/16370>, making it 3-0.
Making his collegiate debut in a controlled start, Peterson wasted no time by striking out the side in his first inning of work. He worked around a pair of baserunners in the second while notching two strikeouts before picking up two more punchouts en route to a clean third.
Florida tacked on another run in the fourth, beginning with an inning-opening single off the bat of Kurland. After a pair of walks to Caglianone and Heyman, Kurland raced home on a passed ball for his third run of the night.
Right-hander Fisher Jameson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/fisher-jameson/16371> took over for Peterson in the bottom of the fourth and worked around a two-out walk to produce a scoreless frame. The Gators took advantage, plating a trio of runs on an RBI single by Michael Robertson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/michael-robertson/16375> and a two-run double down the right-field line from Caglianone to extend the lead to 7-0.
In the sixth, the Gators were gifted a run on a series of errors. Colby Shelton<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/colby-shelton/16639> reached on a fielding error at shortstop and later came home on a fielding error at third base off the bat of Dale Thomas<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/dale-thomas/16378>.
Following a scoreless pitching debut from righty Jake Clemente<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jake-clemente/16366>, Florida added on two more runs to push the score to 10-0. Kurland picked up his fourth hit and crossed home on an RBI single through the left side by Heyman. Tyler Shelnut<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-shelnut/16376> then capped off the scoring with a double down the left-field line to plate Heyman.
Blake Purnell<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/blake-purnell/16374> put the finishing touches on the victory, tossing a scoreless seventh on one hit and one strikeout. The contest ended at the end of the seventh with the 10-run rule in effect.
Peterson (1-0) picked up the win in a controlled start. The freshman hurled three scoreless innings on one hit and one walk while striking out seven.
UNF starting pitcher Tony Roca (0-1) was saddled with the loss after surrendering two earned runs on three hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning. He struck out two.
Kurland (4-for-5), Caglianone (2-for-3), Heyman (2-for-3) and Shelnut (2-for-4) each collected multiple hits in the victory.
NOTABLES
* Tuesday night’s game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 2,509 fans.
* Making his career debut on the mound, Peterson struck out the side in the first and finished with seven strikeouts in three innings. He allowed just one walk and one hit.
* Peterson’s seven strikeouts were the most by a Gator in his collegiate debut since Pierce Coppola<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/pierce-coppola/16367> also struck out seven against Liberty on Feb. 20, 2022.
* Karsten Whiston holds the program record with nine strikeouts vs. USF on Feb. 20, 2011.
* Also making his debut, Clemente threw a scoreless frame in the sixth while striking out three.
* Kurland picked up a career-high four hits while tying his career high with four runs.
* Caglianone drove in four runs while finishing 2-for-3 with one home run and one double.
* Dating back to last season, Florida is 23-4 in regular season non-conference games and has won 14 of its last 15 such contests.
* The Gators have now won 10-straight midweek contests dating back to last season.
* Florida improved to 20-7 all-time against North Florida including 5-3 on the road
* The Gators rise to 16-3 vs. the Ospreys under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1752>, featuring a 5-2 mark on the road.
* Florida has won 15 of the last 16 meetings in the series vs. UNF.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the win…
“We did a nice job in the first inning and ran the pitch count up on their starter who had a really good arm. But, obviously, getting Liam [Peterson] out there for the first time, first start on the road, he was everything we would hope that he would be. He was outstanding. The bullpen was good with Fisher [Jameson], Jake [Clemente] and Blake [Purnell] coming in and doing their thing. Then, Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/16372> had a heck of a night at the plate getting four hits in the leadoff spot. Obviously, Jac putting us ahead there in the first with the two-run homer with four RBI tonight. And Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/16368> had some really, really good at bats tonight too. I think he hit the ball hard three times out of the four at bats. Overall, it was a really good game for us.”
On Caglianone hitting second…
“Luke [Heyman]’s been swinging the bat good. It’s not going to be easy for other teams to just go ahead and walk Jac, because if Luke keeps swinging the bat like he has been, they’re still going to have to respect Luke and Colby [Shelton]. He’s going to get it going, too. The reason for moving Jac to the two-hole tonight, we played from behind for nine-straight innings on Friday night and it was hard. I just wanted to hopefully get out to an early lead and hopefully our guys would relax a little bit, which they did. A lot of teams now are taking their best hitter and moving him to the two-hole. You look around our league and some of the better hitters are hitting two-hole. It got us out to an early lead, like I said, and I think the guys relaxed a little bit more.”
On Peterson’s outing…
“The goal was to get him for two innings and keep his pitch count under 40 because he’s going to come back on Saturday, but he went three innings and gave up the one hit, the infield hit, and struck out seven with one walk on 37 pitches. I thought his stuff was electric and pitched to both sides of the plate with his fastball. It was everything we had hoped for. It’s his first college start, so there’s always some nerves, but it was on the road and it was a long top half of the first with their starter going 43 pitches to record two outs. His routine got a little bit changed up a little bit because he did have to run back down to the pen and get loose again before he went out there in the bottom of the first.”
UP NEXT
Florida hosts North Florida at Condron Family Ballpark on Wednesday with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.
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