Caglianone Has the Last Laugh on Jeering LSU Baseball Fans

A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning:

Mark Twain is often credited as having said, “Better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you’re stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.” He didn’t say it, but that doesn’t make the saying any less true.

Photo credit UAA

LSU fans probably should have kept their mouths shut Sunday afternoon.

They spent their Sunday at Alex Box Stadium trying to make life miserable for Florida’s Jac Caglianone, perhaps taking a page from Tennessee fans who last season harassed Caglianone into a bad day on the mound. A year ago, Caglianone’s emotions could get the best of him, especially on the road. That wasn’t the case Sunday.

If the LSU fans had any effect at all, it never showed. Caglianone turned in his fourth straight dominant outing, holding LSU to three hits and two runs in seven innings.

Along the way the Gators built up an 8-2 lead in large part because Colby Shelton launched a pair of 2-run homers, the first to dead center field in the fifth, the second an opposite field job to left in the sixth. In the fifth, when the Gators scored six, Cade Kurland also hit a 2-run homer and Luke Heyman hit a 2-run double.

Then came the eighth and the LSU fans couldn’t leave well enough alone, not even after Ty Evans hit a 2-run homer to dead center to make it 10-2. That brought Caglianone to the plate, 0-4 on Sunday but owner of a 2-run game-winner to right field Saturday night to lead the Gators to a come-from-behind 6-4 win.

The fans erupted when Caglianone stepped into the batters box and they were beside themselves with joy when Javen Copeland sailed a first pitch close to Caglianone’s head.

That was a purpose pitch, but Caglianone wasn’t the least bit fazed. The crowd loved the second pitch, a called strike. The third pitch left the yard a whole lot faster than the pitch Coleman threw near Caglianone’s head. When it landed beyond the left field bleachers Caglianone was trotting around the bases, the only emotion showing a rather small smile.

Coleman was yanked, replaced by Christian Little. Adding insult to injury, Little’s fifth pitch to Tyler Shelnut left the yard, the first time the Gators have gone deep back-to-back-to-back since Brian Jeroloman, Brandon McArthur and Brian LeClerc did it back in 2005.

Shelnut’s homer, his eighth of the year, allowed the 6th-ranked Gators (14-9, 4-2 SEC) to run-rule the 5th-ranked Tigers (19-6, 2-4 SEC). In winning Saturday and Sunday, the Gators bounced back from a 6-1 loss Friday night to win their second straight SEC series and their 21st weekend series in the last 23.

The turnaround from Friday night had plenty to do with Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan shaking up the batting order. Shelton moved to leadoff and it paid off Sunday with a single, his 11th and 12th homers and four RBI. Ty Evans moved up to second in the order, responding with consecutive 3-hit games. Dropping down to third, Caglianone hit homers on consecutive games. Kurland moved from leadoff to fifth in the order, going 3-9 including his fifth home run.

O’Sullivan couldn’t hand out enough praise in his post game remarks.

“Jac was just unbelievable on the mound today,” O’Sullivan said. “He was in total control. Never got out of his delivery. Seven innings, one earned run, and then offensively we were really, really good. Colby Shelton had a big day. I think we had six homers on the day. He certainly got going today. Ty had an unbelievable weekend at the plate and played great defense, too. The play he made yesterday to start the ninth was an incredible play. He made another one to his left tonight. Obviously, Jac ran into one. Shelnut had a great weekend, had three walks today as well. We had some contributions from everybody. I thought Tanner (Garrison) caught great the entire weekend. It was an overall complete team win today."

The Gators will be in Jacksonville Tuesday night to face Florida State (19-3), which was swept by Clemson over the weekend, blowing an 11-2 lead on Sunday for a 14-12 loss.

Game notes: Caglianone is now 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA. He has allowed only 10 hits while striking out 32 in his last 24-1/3 innings. At the plate, Caglianone is hitting .394 with 11 homers and 24 RBI … Evans’ 8-15 weekend at the plate raised his average to .389. Evans is 23 for his last 49 at bats, a cool .469. He has hit six homers while driving in 22 … The Gators have hit 52 home runs in 23 games.

UF SOFTBALL: Gators sweep Kentucky

Skylar Wallace hit a 2-run homer and Keagan Rothrock pitched a 4-hitter as the Gators (29-4, 5-1 SEC) beat Kentucky (20-11, 0-6 SEC), 7-1, for a sweep of the weekend series. In the three games, the Gators outscored the Wildcats 26-4 and outhit them 27-10.

Wallace, who also had a run-scoring single, scored three runs and stole three bases. Last season’s national player of the year is hitting .488 with eight homers, 37 RBI and 23 stolen bases in 24 attempts.

Florida jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first two innings, scoring two on a single to left field by Jocelyn Erickson that drove home Wallace and Korbe Otis in the first, and three in the second on an RBI single by Wallace and a two-run single by Erickson.

Rothrock gave up a run in the sixth, but the Gators countered in the bottom half of the inning when Mia Williams was hit by a pitch, stole second and came home on Wallace’s home run to left center.

Next up for the Gators is a road trip to Starkville for a 3-game SEC series with Mississippi State (24-7, 5-4 SEC) starting Thursday evening. Mississippi State took two of three on the road at Arkansas over the weekend.

Game notes: Wallace now has 105 stolen bases in her Florida career, just eight behind school record holder Kelsey Stewart … Rothrock (14-3, 1.01 ERA) has pitched 13 complete games … Led by Wallace (.488), five Florida starters are hitting more than .400 including Otis (.447), Kendra Falby .441, Erickson (.429) and Katie Kistler (.422).

UF WOMEN’S TENNIS: Gators post two SEC road wins

With their 4-0 win over Missouri Sunday, the Gators (10-7, 6-2 SEC) have won five consecutive matches. The Gators will be home next weekend, taking on Mississippi State on Friday and Ole Miss on Sunday.

UF MEN’S TENNIS: Gators split two weekend matches

The Gators (9-9, 3-5 SEC) got a Friday win over Ole Miss, 4-0, but dropped their Sunday match with Mississippi State, 4-3. The Gators will be in Athens on Sunday to face Georgia. Florida’s next home match is April 5 vs. Vanderbilt at the Ring Tennis Complex.

SEC BASKETBALL

Sunday’s scores: Alabama (23-11) 72, Grand Canyon (30-5) 61; West Region; Houston (32-4) 100, Texas A&M (21-15) 95

Thursday’s Sweet 16 game: Alabama (23-11) vs. North Carolina (29-7), West Region

Friday’s Sweet 16 game: Creighton (25-9) vs. Tennessee (25-9), Midwest Region

SEC FOOTBALL /BASKETBALL

Alabama: The Crimson Tide is in the Sweet 16, but will be playing the rest of the NCAA Tournament without Nick Pringle, who broke his foot.

Georgia: Former Gator running back Trevor Etienne was arrested in Athens on Sunday morning, charged with DUI among other things. One Georgia internet site claims that Etienne is the first Georgia player to be arrested in 2024.

Kentucky: Some Kentucky sites are claiming a decision is pending regarding the status of John Calipari. ESPN analysts Jay Bilas and Seth Greenberg claim that firing Cal would be “absurd.” 

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Few have benefitted from the transfer portal more than Lane Kiffin, but the Ole Miss coach calls the combination of NIL and the transfer portal “a disaster,” especially since athletes can transfer multiple times now without having to sit a full year. Kiffin has an idea that could work if implemented which is to make the athletes employees and give them contracts that are enforceable.

The idea of making athletes employees isn’t anything new, but the combination of employment with an enforceable contract is new and should be taken quite seriously. Among other things, it could help resolve the opt out problem if the contract forbids opting out of bowl games, etc. Another aspect of the contract would be the possibility of multiple year deals, which could resolve many of the transfer issues.

This isn’t a perfect idea, but it’s a good start. It would add a new layer to the recruiting process because contracts require lawyers. Who’s going to pay for the lawyers for the players? Could a player under contract be traded? Could a school that needs a left tackle, for example, trade a safety and a linebacker to another school that has a disgruntled tackle or perhaps a surplus at the position? A player who wants to transfer could request a trade or a release. A player with a multi-year deal who wants a trade or a release so he could transfer could use some of his NIL money to buy out his contract or ask the school to which he wishes to transfer to buy out the remaining months/years on his contract.

The idea has its complications, that’s for sure, but it certainly has more merit than the proposal brought forward by NCAA president Charlie Dean. Here’s an idea for you. Ditch the Dean proposal and get all the Division I coaches together for a weekend, no school presidents allowed. Let the coaches come up with a proposal since it is their livelihood that is affected by transfers and NIL.