Florida Gators starting pitcher/designated hitter Jac Caglianone (14) hits a three-run home run against the NC State Wolfpack during the second inning Monday at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. [Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports]

College World Series: Florida Changes Batting Order Vs. Kentucky Today

Evan Andrews June 18, 2024 Baseball, College Baseball, College World Series, Gators Baseball, NCAA, NCAA Tournament 5,065 Views

The Florida Gators vs. Kentucky Wildcats College World Series elimination game originally scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday was rescheduled for an 11 a.m. ET start today due to the possibility of inclement weather in Omaha, Neb.

The rest of Wednesday’s schedule at Charles Schwab Field Omaha is as planned, with top seed Tennessee (57-12) playing No. 8 seed Florida State (49-16), the 9-5 winner of Tuesday’s elimination game against No. 4 North Carolina (48-16), at 3 p.m. ET and then the winner of the UF-UK game will play Texas A&M at 7 p.m. ET.

All three games will air on ESPN, 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF.

New UF batting order

The Gators made big batting order changes for today’s game vs. Kentucky:

1B Jac Caglianone

2B Cade Kurland

LF Tyler Shelnut

SS Colby Shelton

C Luke Heyman

RF Ashton Wilson

3B Dale Thomas

DH Brody Donay: SP Pierce Coppola

CF Michael Robertson

Florida’s Road

The unseeded Gators (35-29) lost in the first round of the CWS late Saturday night to No. 3 national seed Texas A&M, 3-2.

Playing out of the loser’s bracket Monday, the Gators eliminated North Carolina State, 5-4.

In the NCAA Tournament, the Gators have eliminated No. 11 national seed Oklahoma State in the Stillwater Regional, No. 6 seed Clemson in the Clemson Super Regional and No. 10 seed NC State.

Florida’s stars continued to step up Monday when Jac Caglianone belted a three-run home run that gave the Gators a 4-1 lead in the top of the second that they didn’t give up thanks to the three scoreless innings of relief by closer Brandon Neely (fifth save).

Caglianone’s homer is his 34th of the season, breaking the UF single-season record (33) he set last year, and ties the career mark of 74 he now shares with Matt LaPorta (2004-07).

Cade Fisher entered in the second inning when Caglianone had trouble finding the strike zone. Fisher (4-3) went four innings and gave up three runs.

NC State’s three runs after the first inning came on a two-run home run by Alec Makarewicz in the bottom of the third and an RBI double by Brandon Butterworth in the fifth.

Tyler Shelnut hit a solo home run (his 16th of the season) in the fifth to keep UF in the lead.

Neely entered in the seventh and closed the door on the Wolfpack (38-23) by striking out six through three innings. Neely has made six appearances in this NCAA Tournament with a 1.29 ERA, 21 innings pitched, three runs allowed, 12 hits allowed and 32 strikeouts.

Kentucky’s Road

No. 2 national seed Kentucky (46-15) won its first game in the CWS 5-4 against NC State on Saturday. Then was knocked into the loser’s bracket by the Aggies 5-1 on Monday night.

The Aggies (51-13) sent out Ryan Prager to shut down the Wildcats through six and two thirds, only giving up two hits and striking out four. Texas A&M scored all five of its runs in the top of the sixth. Kaeden Kent hit a two-run single to cap the inning. Ryan Nicholson hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth for the Wildcats’ only run.

Regular-Season Series

Kentucky won the season series against Florida in early May in Gainesville, taking two of three. The Wildcats took the first game in 10 innings, 12-11. The Gators bounced back in the second game in dominant fashion, winning 10-1. Kentucky won Game 3 in 10 innings again, this time 7-5.

Projected Starters

Florida was supposed to start Pierce Coppola (0-4, 9.16 ERA) for Tuesday’s game before the postponement. Coppola still remains as the probable starter for Wednesday’s game. He started the first game against Kentucky in the regular-season series, lasting 2.2 innings and giving up one unearned run while striking out three.

Kentucky is expected to start left-hander Dominic Niman (8-4, 6.24). Niman was the losing pitcher in last month’s UF win. He allowed six runs on seven hits in four innings.

The Florida-Kentucky winner would have to beat Texas A&M twice to advance to the CWS Finals that starts Saturday.

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