Sunday’s 14-4 win vs. No. 22 Miami marked Florida’s largest victory against the Hurricanes in over 25 years.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 6 Florida plated four runs in each of the first two innings and never looked back to invoke the mercy rule in a 14-4 eight-inning win over No. 22 Miami on Sunday afternoon.
Drawing a program-record 22,830 fans over the three-game series, the Gators (10-3) have now won eight of the last nine regular-season series against the Canes (8-4). Sunday’s 14-4 win marked Florida’s largest victory against the Miami in over 25 years – since Feb. 14, 1998 (19-5).
Five Gators collected multiple hits on Sunday, led by three-hit performances from Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/15514> (3-for-5) and BT Riopelle<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/bt-riopelle/15503> (3-for-5). The latter paced the squad with four RBI and three runs scored thanks to a second-inning grand slam that broke the game open.
After a clean first from starter Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489>, the Gators put up a four-spot on the Canes thanks to clutch hitting from the bottom half of the order. With two outs, four Gators stroked RBI singles – Riopelle, Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/15491>, Michael Robertson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/michael-robertson/15505> and Deric Fabian<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/deric-fabian/15492> – to open a 4-0 Florida lead.
Riopelle gave the Orange & Blue another major boost in the second, picking up his second homer of the season with a grand slam to right-center field. Kurland added an RBI single to center the very next inning to push the advantage to 9-0.
Caglianone held the Canes scoreless through the first three innings, but Miami broke through in the fourth with a Zach Levenson sacrifice fly to right-center field. The southpaw worked through the remainder of the frame with no damage, raising his strikeout total to six.
Miami plated three late runs in the eighth before it was all said and done. Edgardo Villegas hit an RBI double to center while Yohandy Morales chipped in a run-scoring single of his own. Levenson then doubled down the right-field line to score Morales.
Although the Canes temporarily made it 11-4, the Gators called game in the bottom of the eighth. Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497> wasted no time getting two runs back, unloading for a two-run shot to left field. Josh Rivera<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/josh-rivera/15504> then homered to center, followed by a game-ending, two-run blast to left by Evans that invoked the 10-run rule.
Caglianone (2-0) earned the victory, firing six innings of one-run ball on four hits and one walk. He struck out eight Canes, falling one short of tying his career high.
Miami starter Alejandro Rosario (1-1) received the loss, allowing seven earned runs across 1 1/3 innings. He surrendered five hits and three walks while striking out two.
NOTABLES
* Florida welcomed a crowd of 6,896 fans on Sunday, bringing the series total to 22,830 – a new program series record.
* Sunday’s 14-4 win vs. No. 22 Miami marked Florida’s largest victory over the Hurricanes in over 25 years – since Feb. 14, 1998 (19-5).
* The Gators have now won eight of the last nine regular-season series against the Canes.
* Florida’s four-run first tied a season high for the first inning (four vs. Cincinnati, Feb. 25)
* The Gators picked up two-out RBI singles in four-consecutive at bats in the first.
* Through three starts apiece, all three of Florida’s weekend starters (Brandon Sproat<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-sproat/15508>, Hurston Waldrep<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/hurston-waldrep/15517>, Caglianone) have struck out at least 23 batters.
* Florida has struck out 157 batters in 111 innings – translating to 12.7 per nine innings.
* Kurland extended his team-leading hitting streak to 11 games.
* Kurland tied his career high with three hits.
* Making his third-career start and second as both a hitter and pitcher, Caglianone allowed just one run on four hits and one walk across six innings to earn the win.
* Florida’s run differential of plus-75 is the team’s best through 13 games since the 2003 season.
* The Gators have scored in 63 of 106 batted innings this season (60.2%).
* For the 11th time in 13 games this year, the Gators recorded double-digit hits.
* The Gators have 164 hits through 13 games (12.6 hits/game).
* The Gators improve to 132-134-1 all-time vs. Miami including 79-50-1 at home.
* Florida is 39-17 in the series under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551> featuring a 21-9 mark in home games.
* UF has won 20 of the last 27 meetings.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the victory…
“We had some really good at bats in the first inning against a really good arm. He’s 96, 98 throwing the fastball to both sides. He was a good arm. Credit to our guys offensively. Cade [Fisher] came in and just threw strikes. Five pitches and got the double play. Josh [Rivera] made a great play. Going back to Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/15514>, I think he was 0 for his first two and next thing you know, he looks up and he’s got three hits. That just tells you everything about his maturity.”
On the fast start and Caglianone…
“I think it was important for us to get off to a good start, obviously. The first inning, offensively was really good. We had some really good at bats against a really good arm in [Alejandro] Rosario, especially with two outs. It may not seem like a lot, but Jac [Caglianone] went 3-0 on the leadoff hitter and came back and threw three-straight strikes and got a ground ball to second. He pitched great, offensively we were really good. It was just a really clean game, both teams didn’t make an error defensively. Obviously, Jac pitched really good tonight. We got three quality starts this weekend. That’s all we can ask for.”
On the Hurricanes…
“I was asked from the radio about Rivera, that he maybe had a rough weekend offensively. I thought he had a really good weekend offensively. He hit some balls really hard Friday night. He laid off two or maybe three at bats from really good breaking balls. I thought his at bats were really good. I thought Michael Robertson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/michael-robertson/15505> had some really good at bats this weekend. I’m not talking about the obvious guys, Jac [Caglianone] and Wyatt [Langford]. Colby [Halter] had a big hit last night and I thought Deric Fabian’s<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/deric-fabian/15492> at bats were really good today. We got some length, but like I said, we’re still a work in progress. Obviously, guys are really excited about the weekend, but we still got a lot of work to do.”
UP NEXT
Florida remains at home next week, hosting FAU in a two-game midweek series on Tuesday, March 7 (6 p.m.) and Wednesday, March 8 (6 p.m.). Both games will stream on SEC Network+.
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