The Gators’ last series victory against the Tigers came in the 2017 College World Series Finals.
BATON ROUGE, La. – Alex Box Stadium is primed for a top-10 Southeastern Conference series this weekend as the No. 6 Florida Gators visit the No. 5 LSU Tigers in a three-game set spanning from Friday through Sunday.
Friday night’s series premiere is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on SEC Network. Game two will begin on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network+ while Sunday’s finale starts at 3 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
This is Florida’s first trip to Baton Rouge in nearly five years – since April 18-20, 2019. The Gators (12-8, 2-1 SEC) and Tigers (18-4, 1-2 SEC) last met in the 2023 College World Series Finals, with LSU defeating Florida in the rubber game (L 4-3, W 24-4, L 18-4).
Florida is in search of its first series win in Baton Rouge since a 2011 sweep, but still maintains a 24-21 overall advantage in the head-to-head series under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1752> (7-11 on the road). LSU leads the all-time series at 68-53-1, including 31-15-1 in Baton Rouge.
Pitching Matchups
Friday | 8 ET (SECN) Saturday | 7 ET (SECN+) Sunday | 3 ET (SECN)
Florida LHP Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/16369> (2-1, 7.94 ERA) RHP Liam Peterson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/liam-peterson/16631> (1-2, 7.50 ERA) LHP Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365> (2-0, 1.77 ERA)
lsu RHP Luke Holman (4-1, 0.63 ERA) LHP Gage Jump (2-0, 2.12 ERA) RHP Thatcher Hurd (1-2, 6.55 ERA))
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Florida jumped to No. 6 in the D1Baseball Top 25 after a 2-2 week highlighted by a top-five series victory. The Gators are ranked No. 8 per Baseball America and sit at No. 10 according to the NCBWA.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
LSU is off to an 18-4 start to the season, although the Tigers dropped their opening SEC series at Mississippi State, two games to one. As a team, LSU is batting .300/.432/.501 backed by 31 homers. On the mound, the Tigers have worked to a 3.74 ERA and 260 strikeouts in 192 2/3 frames. LSU has fielded at a .971 clip through 22 games.
LAST TIME OUT
The Gators suffered a 7-6 home loss to Jacksonville on Tuesday despite two solo home runs from first baseman Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365> and 2 1/3 no-hit innings of relief from right-handed pitcher Luke McNeillie<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-mcneillie/16629>. Over the weekend, Florida opened SEC play with a top-five series victory by defeating No. 4 Texas A&M, two games to one (W 8-6, L 6-10, W 4-2). Five home runs including two solo shots from Caglianone lifted Florida to victory in game one, as infielder Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/16372>, infielder Colby Shelton<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/colby-shelton/16639> and outfielder/infielder Tyler Shelnut<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-shelnut/16376> all went deep as well. In the series finale, Caglianone shined on the mound with 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball (one earned), allowing just four hits and five walks while fanning seven. Designated hitter Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/16370> hit a crucial, game-tying homer in the fourth and Shelnut hit the go-ahead, two-run bomb in the bottom of the eighth.
SERIESLY WINNING
The Gators have claimed 20 of their last 22 three-game, regular-season series dating back to the 2022 season including 13 of 15 in SEC play. The Gators are 40-14 in weekend series since the start of last season and 49-17 across the team’s previous 22 series at any venue.
THE SEC’S FINEST
Since Florida’s last home series lost vs. Tennessee from April 22-24, 2022, the Gators have gone 39-17 vs. SEC opponents featuring a 31-14 regular-season mark. Dating back to O’Sullivan’s first year at UF in 2008, Florida’s .617 winning percentage is the best in the conference (279-173).
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
With 238 strikeouts in 176 innings, Florida ranks seventh nationally and third in the SEC in strikeouts per nine (12.2). On the other side of the ball, the Gators’ 44 home runs are good for eighth in the country and third in the SEC.
NATIONAL DEFENDERS
After committing just one error in the last four games, Florida has risen to No. 1 nationally in fielding percentage (.986). The Gators have committed 10 errors all season long across 699 chances, including just eight by UF position players. Florida has yet to commit an error this season at four positions: first base, left field, center field and right field.
NEELY DEALIN’
Fresh off SEC Pitcher of the Week and NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week honors, closer Brandon Neely<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-neely/16373> went 1-0 with one save and 10 strikeouts across 6.0 shutout relief innings last week. The Florida closer appeared in three of Florida’s four games, chucking a 3.0 inning save in the game-one win over No. 4 Texas A&M and earning the victory with 2.0 shutout frames in the decisive finale. He finished with a .105 batting average against, allowing just two hits and two walks.
FRIDAY NIGHT FISH
Although he has struggled to find consistency early on, Friday night starter Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/16369> has struck out 33 batters against just three walks in 20 2/3 innings across his last four starts. With a stellar 7.4 K-to-BB ratio, 34.6 K% and 4.7 BB%, Fisher has been victimized by a lofty .429 batting average on balls in play this season (up from .336 in 2023). He enters Friday with strong peripherals despite a 7.94 ERA, wielding a 3.37 xFIP and 1.71 SIERA that indicate he has pitched better than his numbers.
MURDERER’S ROW
Florida has four qualified hitters with an OPS above 1.000 and each of the top-six hitters in the UF lineup sit above .960: Shelton (1.241), Caglianone (1.221), Shelnut (1.164), outfielder Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/16368> (1.048), Heyman (.995) and Kurland (.962). The top-six in the Gators’ lineup has accounted for 40 of the team’s 44 home runs and have driven in 120 of UF’s 163 runs (73.6%). All six players are slugging above .550.
SHELLYMAN SCORCHING
Across the last six games, Shelnut is 11-for-25 with a .440/.500/1.000 slash line, three homers, five doubles, nine RBI, six runs and one steal. He leads Florida in batting, on-base percentage, slugging, doubles and RBI in that span. His 24 RBI on the season pace the roster, as he is batting .409 (18-for-44) with runners on base (second to Caglianone at .450) and a team-best .500 (11-for-22) with runners in scoring position.
WE’RE GOING STREAKING
Two Gators enter with 20-game on-base streaks in Heyman and Shelton. Kurland leads the squad with a nine-game hitting streak.
HIS TYME
Boasting eight multi-hit games in Florida’s last 10 contests, Evans is hitting a red-hot .405/.468/.595 (17-for-42) with two home runs. On the season, he ranks second on the team in batting (.360) and hits (27) behind Caglianone.
SHELSHOCK ‘EM
In Friday’s win over Texas A&M, Shelton and Shelnut homered in the same game for the fourth time this season. They rank first and third on the roster in homers, with Shelton’s team-high 10 home runs tied for 10th nationally and t-fourth in the SEC. Shelnut has swatted seven long balls, matching his total from all of last season. The duo also ranks one-two on the team in slugging, with Shelton at .776 and Shelnut at .740.
JAC OF ALL TRADES
Not only is Caglianone pacing UF in batting (.414), on-base percentage (.485) and hits (36) on top of nine homers, but he has been the team’s best pitcher through five weeks. The southpaw is 2-0 on a team-low 1.77 ERA and .132 batting average against, and ranks second in strikeouts with 34 in 20 1/3 innings. In his last three starts, Caglianone has allowed one earned run across 17 1/3 innings on seven hits, 11 walks and 27 strikeouts. He has also improved his offensive approach, drawing 11 walks against nine strikeouts in 82 at bats.
GARY ON GUARD
Catcher Tanner Garrison<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tanner-garrison/16622> owns a 1.000 fielding percentage across 93 chances. He has thrown out five of six attempted base stealers this season for an absurd 83.3% caught stealing rate.
MCNEILLIE MAGIC
Coming off back-to-back- scoreless outings spanning 3 1/3 innings, McNeillie has lowered his ERA from 17.28 to 12.34. He secured the series-clinching save over No. 4 Texas A&M on his 19th birthday on Sunday, then fired 2 1/3 no-hit relief frames with a career-high six strikeouts on Tuesday vs. Jacksonville.
SULLY SUPERLATIVES
Since O’Sullivan’s 2008 arrival, no college program has more CWS trips (eight), Super Regionals hosted (nine), top-eight national seeds (10) and NCAA Tournament bids (15) than the Florida Gators. Overall, Florida’s 15-straight NCAA bids represent the second-longest active streak in the sport. The Gators have also hosted 12 NCAA Regionals out of a possible 15 during O’Sullivan’s tenure (no NCAA Tournament in 2020), which ranks first in the nation. Looking at the SEC specifically, Florida’s .617 winning percentage (277-172) since 2008 is the top mark in the conference.
ON DECK
Florida travels to Jacksonville, Fla. on Tuesday for a neutral site battle against No. 12 Florida State at 121 Financial Ballpark. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
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