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The sixth ranked Florida baseball team (15-3) swept the Siena Saints (2-13) on Sunday at Condron Ballpark, winning 12-2 in seven innings.
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Gators bullpen gets the job done against the Saints
Jac Caglianone’s start on Sunday for the Gators on the mound began a little shaky. He got the first two batters out with ease, but then walked and hit the next two batters. He did get out of the inning without any runs allowed after getting a strike out. And other than this inning, Caglianone did not have many problems on the mound. However, his day ended heading into the fourth inning; his final line was three innings pitched with three strikeouts, one hit and two walks allowed.
It was not surprising to end his day on the mound early with the upcoming series against Alabama to open SEC play starting on a Thursday rather than on Friday to provide more rest for Caglianone for his next start.
Blake Purnell walked to the mound to replace Caglianone to begin the fourth inning. Purnell hit the first batter he faced, but that would be only the base runner in the fourth inning. He came back out for the fifth inning but only got two outs before being relieved. Clete Hartzog was brought out of the bullpen to replace Purnell in the fifth with runners on second and third base. Unfortunately for the Gators, the Saints got their runs on a single up the middle that put the score at 9-2 in favor of Florida.
Hartzog navigated his way through the sixth inning as well, but Philip Abner came in for him in the seventh inning. Abner would finish the day for the Gators as they run-ruled the Saints 12-2 in the seventh inning. Abner in his one inning of work struck out two of the three batters he faced.
Gators continue smash homers
It did not take the Gators long to take the lead against the Saints. After a lead-off walk and steal by Michael Robertson, Cade Kurland hit a ball to left field that gave the Gators the 1-0 lead. Shortly after that, Florida had back-to-back fielder’s choices that resulted in them taking a 3-0 lead in the first.
In the following inning, the Gators added four more runs. The first came from an error by the third baseman that scored one run. The other three came from a Caglianone homer into left-center field. This homer put the Gators up 7-0 in just the second inning. This homer marked the 16th straight game with a homer for the Gators.
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Florida did not score any runs in the third, but they scored two loud ones in the fourth. The first two batters of the inning, Caglianone and Josh Rivera, hit back-to-back homers to push the Gators’ lead to 9-0 over the Saints.
Their lead was cut to seven to begin the fifth, but they quickly got some rebound runs. After an error by the Saints shortstop that allowed one Gator to score and put runners on second and third, BT Riopelle singled to right field bringing them both in to put the Gators in front 12-2. These would be the last runs of the game as the Gators would not score in the sixth.
Overall, the Gators ended with 11 hits, of which three were home runs, and 12 total runs. For BT Riopelle, he believes after having little energy in the first game of the series that the Gators got back to their brand of baseball in these last two games.
However, Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan still thinks there are few areas that need fixing heading into conference play.
SEC play set to begin this week
Florida will only have one midweek game this week against North Florida on Tuesday. This is because they will be facing off against conference opponent Alabama Crimson Tide on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for their three-game series this week.
