Jac Caglianone hit his eighth and ninth homers while Luke McNeillie tossed 2 1/3 no-hit relief innings.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 6 Florida was defeated by Jacksonville, 7-6, at Condron Family Ballpark on Tuesday night.
Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365> (2-for-5) mashed two solo home runs and drove in three in the contest. Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/16368> (2-for-3) and Tyler Shelnut<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-shelnut/16376> (2-for-5) also turned in multi-hit nights, with the latter doubling and accounting for two RBI.
The Dolphins (8-12) put two runs on the Gators (12-8) in the top of the first. They loaded the bases before an out was recorded, allowing Aidan Masters to produce a two-run single to center to open a 2-0 JU lead.
Right-hander Fisher Jameson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/fisher-jameson/16371> took over for starter Ryan Slater<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ryan-slater/16377> at the onset of the second. Jameson worked a scoreless frame, stranding one baserunner while notching two strikeouts. Jacksonville broke through against him in the third, as Masters grounded out to third base to bring home Blake Edmonds.
Faced with a 3-0 deficit, it took Florida just six batters to snatch a 4-3 lead. Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/16372> led off the bottom of the third with a single to left, followed by a two-run, mammoth homer to left-center off the bat of Caglianone. Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/16370> and Evans then smacked consecutive singles, giving way to Shelnut to mash a go-ahead, two-run double into the right-center field gap.
Jacksonville answered immediately in the fourth, regaining a 5-4 edge on an RBI single to right by Justin Nadeau and a run-scoring groundout to first from Josh Steidl. Freshman Luke McNeillie<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-mcneillie/16629> entered with two outs in the frame and registered a strikeout of Masters to navigate the Orange & Blue away from further damage.
McNeillie struck out the side in order in the fifth to make it four-straight strikeouts for the right-hander. In the sixth, he stranded two Dolphins to keep Florida within one run through six.
Fellow freshman hurler Alex Philpott<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/alex-philpott/16632> took over pitching duties in the seventh, working a clean inning with two strikeouts. He blanked the Dolphins again in the eighth, but Jacksonville broke out in the ninth with two insurance runs. Conner Spelman came through with a two-out, two-out single to right field to push the score to 7-4.
The Gators made it interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Caglianone launched his second home run of the night, taking an 0-1 offering over the right-center field wall. Landon Russell<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/landon-russell/16636> later picked up his first-career hit with a two-out, RBI single through the left side to score Shelnut, bringing the score to its final tally of 7-6.
Dolphins reliever Dylan Faulkner (1-0) earned the victory on three shutout innings of relief. He did not allow a hit while totaling three walks and three strikeouts.
Smith (0-1) received the loss, allowing two earned runs in one inning. He gave up two hits and one walk while striking out two.
Slater was handed a no-decision, as the UF starter went just one inning with two runs allowed on two hits and two walks. He fanned one.
Jacksonville starter Blake Barquin also did not factor into the decision, surrendering four earned runs in three-plus innings. He was charged with six hits allowed, two walks and four strikeouts.
NOTABLES
* Tuesday night’s official attendance was 5,165.
* Caglianone mashed his eighth and ninth home runs of the season.
* It marked his second multi-homer game of the campaign.
* Florida struck out a season-high 18 batters.
* Heyman and Shelton moved their on-base streaks to 20-straight contests.
* Kurland extended his hitting streak to nine games.
* Florida fell to 45-13 at home since the start of the 2023 season.
* The Gators have won 23 of their last 30 regular-season, non-conference games.
* Since last season, Florida is 32-10 in non-con action.
* Florida is now 66-36 all-time vs. Jacksonville including 43-17 in Gainesville.
* The Gators are 20-8 against the Dolphins under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1752> (15-6 at home), having won 11 of the last 14 meetings.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On Slater going one inning…
“He was going to go 30 pitches and we were going to get two innings out of him and get him to the weekend, because he only threw two-thirds of an inning. That was the thought process there and then he threw 27 in the first and that was it. He was going to get to 30 and that was going to be about it.”
On McNeillie’s strong outing…
“I mean there were certainly some bright moments in the game and that’s certainly probably the highlight honestly, that he came back. And what you try to do is keep everyone’s pitch count down to keep them fresh for the weekend. We just, when you have games like this everybody just has got to do their part. Certainly, Luke obviously did that tonight.”
On Caglianone’s improvements on the hill…
“Yeah, he had a really good weekend and obviously he had a really good game today as well. He’s older, experienced and we’re moving him around and he’s still swinging the bat. Sometimes, you move guys around defensively, it affects them offensively, but it’s certainly hasn’t changed anything. We’ve played him at third the last two games.”
UP NEXT
The Gators travel to Baton Rouge, La. for a three-game series against No. 5 LSU this weekend. Friday’s series premiere airs on SEC Network at 8 p.m. ET and Sunday’s finale can also be watched on SEC Network at 3 p.m. ET. Game two streams on SEC Network+ on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
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