Observations from the second weekend of Florida Gators baseball practice

The Florida Gators baseball team continued prep for the upcoming 2023 season with another trio of open scrimmages over the weekend and on Monday.

Here are some observations from the weekend’s scrimmages. Gator baseball opens the season on Feb. 17 with a three-game series against Charleston Southern at Condron Family Ballpark.

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Nearly perfect

Perfection was so close, but yet so far for pitchers Hurston Waldrep and Cade Fisher on Monday’s scrimmage. The two took a combined no-hit bid all the way to the ninth inning for the Blue team before a 3-run rally ended their chances.

Freshman catcher Luke Heyman broke up the no-hit bid with a base hit, and Richie Schiekofer added another the next at-bat. After Max Brown walked to load the bases, Colby Halter hit an RBI single while an error on the throw allowed two more runs to score, ending a chance for a combined shut out.

Waldrep started and finished his afternoon nearly the same way. The preseason All American struck out three of his first four batters while peaking at 97 mph. He concluded his night by striking out all three batters in the fifth inning.

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Waldrep was recently named a 2023 Preseason First Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball, one of four total members of the Gator baseball team to be named as an All-American by a media outlet.

Fisher joined immediately in the dominance by striking out two of his first three batters in the sixth inning. In the seventh inning, the freshman struck out two more and made a tremendous play to through out a bunting Halter at first.

On the day, Waldrep pitched five full innings with six strikeouts while allowing only one walk and no hits. In relief for the final four innings, Fisher added five strikeouts while allowing three hits. All three hits came in the ninth inning.

Caglianone prepares for two-way role

Jac Caglianone left no doubt offensively in his scrimmage appearances over the weekend.

On Saturday, the combination pitcher and infielder smoked a solo home run to left field with an exit velocity of 111.4 mph. He added a double that was hit 114 mph off the bat later in the scrimmage.

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Much was the same on Sunday for the sophomore with an 2-run single, RBI double and a steal. The single topped 115 mph off the bat.

Although his batting performance on Monday left a lot to be desired with no hits and two strike outs, he showed a strong potential on the mound. Caglianone consistently hit the mid-90s on pitches, including a strike out that hit 99 miles per hour. However, he gave up two separate 2-run home runs and a triple.