Florida hurlers combined for 15 strikeouts while Jac Caglianone, Tyler Shelnut, Cade Kurland and Wyatt Langford all left the yard.
TAMPA, Fla. – No. 7 Florida used dominant pitching and six unanswered runs to defeat South Florida by a score of 6-1 in the first installment of a two-game midweek set on Tuesday night.
The pitching tandem of Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/15513>, Ryan Slater<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ryan-slater/15506> and Brandon Neely<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-neely/15499> combined for nine quality innings on the bump, only forfeiting a lone unearned run in the first. The trio struck out 15 Bulls and walked just one batter.
Offensively, Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489> finished a triple shy of the cycle. Tyler Shelnut<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-shelnut/15515>, Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/15514> and Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497> also swatted homers in the win.
The Bulls (1-3) plated one run in the first to get out to an early 1-0 lead. With runners on first and second, Marcus Brodil drove in Daniel Cantu with a double to right-center field.
After allowing the lone unearned run in the first, Fisher settled into a groove. Making the first start of his career, the southpaw set down three batters on strikes in the first before striking out the side in the second to finish with six strikeouts through the first two innings.
Following another zero from Fisher in the third, the Gators (4-0) broke into the scoring column. With a double already to his credit, Caglianone deposited the first pitch he saw in his second at bat over the center field wall for his first homer of the year.
Fisher churned out scoreless frames in the third and fourth to hold the score, eventually ceding duties to Slater at the onset of the fifth inning. Slater kept the momentum going on the mound, firing a shutout inning to bring up the Gator bats in the top half of the sixth.
Riopelle led off the sixth with a bunt single to third base, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. From there, freshman Kurland came through with a clutch RBI single to center to give Florida its first lead of the night.
It was all Gators from that point forward. Slater blanked the Bulls in the sixth and seventh, then Neely took over in the eighth and struck out the side to send the matchup into the final frame.
Holding a slim one-run advantage, Florida tacked on four insurance runs in the ninth. Shelnut and Kurland launched back-to-back home runs, with the latter recording his first-career big fly. Michael Robertson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/michael-robertson/15505> then scored on an error after swiping third base. Capping it off, Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497> hit his first home run of the year to make it 6-1 Florida.
Neely struck out two more batters in the bottom half to nail down his second-career save and cement the win for the Orange & Blue. He closed out the final two innings with one walk allowed and five strikeouts.
Slater (1-0) picked up the victory, throwing three shutout innings of relief with one hit allowed and four strikeouts.
In his first-career start, Fisher allowed one unearned run across four innings of work. The left-hander gave up four hits and did not issue a walk while striking out six.
Bulls starter Jack Cebert lasted 3 2/3 frames, giving up one earned run on five hits while striking out two. USF Reliever Ethan Brown was saddled with the loss, allowing one earned run across 2 1/3 innings. He coughed up three hits and one walk while striking out two.
Langford (2-for-5), Caglianone (3-for-5) and Kurland (2-for-3) registered multiple hits in the victory.
NOTABLES
* The Gators struck out 15 Bulls in Tuesday’s road win.
* Florida starters have struck out at least six batters in all four starts so far this season.
* The Gators have outscored opponents, 43 to 6, to open the campaign.
* Shelnut and Kurland connected for back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning.
* Florida hit four home runs on Tuesday for the first time since May 19, 2022 vs. South Carolina.
* The Gators hit three homers in the ninth inning alone.
* The Gators start 4-0 for the first time since the 2020 campaign.
* Making his collegiate debut on the mound, Fisher pitched four innings with one unearned run allowed on four hits while striking out six batters.
* The Gators improve to 64-27 all-time against the Bulls including 19-15 on the road.
* Florida was won 26 of the last 30 against USF.
* UF has won five of the last six road meetings.
* Under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551>, Florida improves to 23-4 against South Florida.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the pitching and offensive contributions…
“Offensively, Jac had a great night, obviously. Cade had a big night, too. Coming back home, in front of his home crowd. He got the two-out RBI back through the middle to give us a 2-1 lead and obviously, we had the big ninth inning there with quite a few home runs. But Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/15513>, first start on the road, I thought he was just outstanding. I think he struck out six guys in a row and didn’t walk anybody. Just gave up the one run and it wasn’t earned. Ryan Slater<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ryan-slater/15506> was outstanding as well. And Brandon Neely<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-neely/15499>, he came in and did a really nice job, too. I think we had 15 strikeouts to one walk tonight. Overall, one error defensively, and offensively we got a lot of contributions from a lot of different people. Really, really pleased with the pitching, and obviously this is a new thing for Brandon to finish games, and I thought he was really good. But Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/15513> to get his first start on the road and pitch like that, hold things together in the first, and just limit it to that one run was huge.”
On Fisher’s starting pitching debut…
“I’ve been saying this all along. He’s advanced. He’s got the right demeanor. His heart rate never gets sped up. He slows the game down. And I think that was evident with how he handled the first inning.”
On scoring runners from third with less than two outs…
“We’ve had like five opportunities with a runner on third and less than two outs the first four games, and I think four of the five times we have not driven in the runner from third… It’s early in the year, but we’ve got to move the baseball and put it in play when the infield is playing back. Anytime you have an opportunity to score a run without getting a hit, you have to cash in.”
UP NEXT
Florida hosts the Bulls on Wednesday at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+.
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