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The clock is ticking on Florida’s chances to put itself in a confident position heading into the postseason. The urgency is evident following the first inning of Tuesday’s baseball game against the USF Bulls.
Even with freshman Liam Peterson getting the start after giving up just one run and striking out 10 over his last seven innings, coach Kevin O’Sullivan wasted no more time.
Peterson found himself behind in counts to the first five batters he faced, giving up a leadoff single and a walk to the first two batters of the game. Peterson escaped the inning clean by forcing ground balls to strand the bases loaded, however, after 23 pitches the leash was cut short.
Cade Fisher took over in the second inning for Florida (25-23) to hold the line with a strong showing from the bullpen.
The Gators pick up a crucial win in the Midweek finale improving to 25-23 on the season.
Backed continuous hitting from Jac Caglianone and a stellar effort from the bullpen.
Postgame analysis from @ItsJesseSimmons #GoGators pic.twitter.com/1MrsiUOBTT
— ESPN 98.1 / 850 WRUF (@ESPNGainesville) May 8, 2024
Hot Hitting Continues
Prior to the combined stellar showing from the Gators bullpen, Jac Caglianone continued his race toward another Florida baseball record.
In the bottom of the first, Caglianone (2-for-4, one RBI) pushed his hitting streak to 27 games on his 27th homer of the season by sending a 2-1 breaking ball that he half swung at 390 feet over the left field wall.
https://twitter.com/ItsJesseSimmons/status/1787978671355023822
Caglianone’s hit streak puts him just three games away from UF leader Jacob Young’s 30-game streak set in 2019-2021.
From there Florida plated a run in the next two innings to jump out to a 3-0 lead over the Bulls (23-25).
Designated hitter Brody Donay (1-for-4) carried his hot stick from the weekend into Tuesday’s game, scorching a ball down the left field line for a leadoff double in the second. Tyler Shelnut then laid down a picture-perfect bunt to move Donay over and set the stage for Hayden Yost to get the RBI groundout that put UF up 2-0.
In the third, the Gators caught a couple breaks with a USF blunder in the field.
A dribbler from Caglianone with a toss from the pitcher that hit him in the arm and a flare over shortstop from Ty Evans allowed Luke Heyman to pick up an RBI.
Heyman did so on a hard-hit ball to the six hole and the throw by shortstop Eric Snow was not picked out of the dirt by first baseman Stewart Puckett to let Florida go up 3-0.
https://twitter.com/GatorsBB/status/1787986444750934408
Florida padded the lead with an insurance run in the eighth with back-to-back doubles from Colby Shelton and Shelnut to go up 4-1.
https://twitter.com/GatorsBB/status/1788010733718155291
Fish + Fish = Bullpen Fry
While the hitters found the way to push early runs across, the bullpen strapped down.
After Peterson gave up a pair of hits and a walk, the pitching staff ran out five more arms to combine for three hits on seven strikeouts and giving up just a single run on a solo homer in the sixth to keep a strong game on the mound.
It started with Fisher (3-2) picking up the win after getting the ball in the second inning and tossing 2 2/3 innings, surrendering a lone hit and striking out a batter on 42 pitches.
Fisher Jameson took over in the fourth, tossing two more innings while giving up the solo shot in the sixth as his only blemish, but fanned two batters to hold the lead.
https://twitter.com/GatorsBB/status/1787993672656855306
Luke McNeillie shined out of the bunch, striking out three of the five batters he faced and walking one Bull.
https://twitter.com/GatorsBB/status/1787999186316591484
Jake Clemente and Brandon Neely, who returned to his closer role to earn his second save, followed, as none of Florida’s pitchers threw over 50 pitches. This points toward confidence-boosting outings entering the weekend against the No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats who rank fifth in the SEC slashing .293 at the plate.
It’s Now or Never
After flirting with the .500 mark for a majority of the season, Florida needs every win it can get. It’s now or never for the Gators, and with six games left in the regular season, Caglianone and company need to find the weekend mojo they had at the start of the season.
The opportunity is certainly there with six conference games and rumors of adding Bethune-Cookman to the back end of the schedule that would pad the resume.
However, Kentucky is putting together its best season and Georgia’s Charlie Condon makes the Bulldogs a threat to never take lightly next week.
Up Next
The Gators face their third straight top-3 weekend series, welcoming the league-leading Kentucky Wildcats (35-10, 18-6 SEC). Game 1 at Condron Family Ballpark is set for Friday at 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network+, ESPN 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF).
