Florida Gators Baseball News: Gators 10 Run Rule Stetson

Photo credits UAA

There was plenty of buzz leaving Condron Family Ballpark Tuesday night about the 2,814 feet seven Florida home runs traveled. There were two opposite field home runs by Jac Caglianone, a rare homer by Michael Robertson also to the opposite field, a monster of a home run to the right of the green monster in center field by Cade Kurland, a line drive of a homer over the left field bullpen by Luke Heyman and a deep blast in left center by Ty Evans. Plus, there was a 493-foot moonshot by Brody Donay, who earlier in the game laid down a perfect bunt between the Stetson pitcher and third baseman.

All those dingers made for a rather pleasant night at the ball yard as the Gators (21-19) did a 13-3, 7-inning run-rule on those same Stetson Hatters who had boinked the Gators 7-4 a few weeks ago in DeLand. Home runs are nice, but what pleased Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan was the number zero.

As in zero walks.

Do you know how many times that has happened in this roller coaster ride of a season? The Stetson win marked just the third time this season that Florida pitchers haven’t walked a batter. The last time was three weeks ago against FAMU. Cade Fisher (2 innings, 37 pitches), Ryan Slater (2-2/3, 34 pitches), Frank Menendez (1-1/3, 26 pitches) and Luke McNeillie (1-1/3, 8 pitches) limited a good hitting Stetson team to two earned runs on nine hits, eight of which were singles. Slater pitched the Gators out of a third inning jam with a pair of ground outs and a swinging third strike. Menendez faced two on with two out in the fifth and got the Gators out of it with a called third strike.

Coupled with a strong 9-inning win back on Saturday when the Gators salvaged their series with Vanderbilt with a game three win, this was the kind of effort from the pitching staff that lends hope that the Gators can generate some momentum in the final four weeks of the regular season before they head to Hoover for the Southeastern Conference Tournament. That none of the pitchers were over-extended means the Gators head to Arkansas this weekend with a fresh pitching staff.

“We didn't walk anybody,” O’Sullivan said. “I thought Ryan coming in with bases loaded, nobody out and limited to one run was probably the turning point in the game even though it was early, but I thought he threw the ball really well had some soft contact, but the stuff looks sharp. That's the second really good outing in a row for Frankie and obviously, Luke came in and threw eight pitches and seven strikes.  To be able to play a midweek game and not anybody that overextended, and they're still fresh to go on Friday night is important and that's kind of what you hope for…"

For all practical purposes, the game was over after the Florida half of the second when the Gators hit three balls out of the yard in a 7-run outburst. Following a single by Tyler Shelnut, Heyman homered to stake UF to a 2-0 lead. Robertson singled up the middle to score Hayden Yost and Cade Kurland for a 4-0 lead, then Evans hit his 2-run homer. That brought up Caglianone who took a 1-1 pitch the opposite way to left field for his 24th home run of the season.

The Gators hit two home runs in the fourth to extend their lead to 9-2. Robertson hit his first homer of the year and one out later, Caglianone took the first pitch he saw opposite field for his 25th homer.

Kurland hit a 2-run homer in the seventh and Donay hit an absolute moonshot out of the stadium onto Hull Road to put UF ahead 12-3. Robertson’s third hit of the game and a single up the middle by Evans brought Caglianone up with a chance to end the game. He didn’t disappoint although he didn’t hit the ball out of the park. Instead it was a line drive down the right field line that brought in Robertson to give the Gators the 10-run lead, good for another run-rule.

Game notes: Caglianone stretched his consecutive game hitting streak to 19 games and his consecutive games on-base streak to 26 … The two home runs raised Caglianone’s career total to 65, fifth all-time in the SEC (record 80) and nine behind UF’s all-time leader Matt LaPorta. Caglianone is two home runs behind Rafael Palmeiro for fourth in SEC history … The home run by Evans was his 10th, a career high … Heyman’s homer was his ninth and Kurland’s was his eighth … The Gators have hit 90 home runs this season, which is third in the SEC.

UF FOOTBALL: Crunching numbers

With the reclassification to 2024 by offensive lineman Enoch Wagnoy (6-7, 314, Jacksonville, FL Zarepath Academy), Billy Napier finds himself teetering on the verge of a real scholarship crunch. The Gators are at the NCAA limit 85 but when Wagnoy enrolls at UF, they will be one over, more if Napier signs any players out of the transfer portal.

Currently, the Gators are pursuing at least two in the portal per Jacob Rudner of Swamp247 – Colorado State wide receiver Justus Ross-Simmons (6-3, 205, SO) and Southern Cal offensive lineman Jason Zandamela (6-3, 306, RFR). Ross-Simmons, a teammate of UF quarterback transfer Clay Millen, caught 45 passes for 724 yards (16.09 per catch) and three TDs last season; 26 for 424 and three TDs in 2022. He plans to be on campus this weekend. Zandamela, who has four years of eligibility remaining, played high school football at Clearwater Academy. He will visit UCF and then Florida. If he doesn’t commit to UCF, Florida is likely to get the commitment.

UF SOFTBALL: Gators host FSU tonight

Although tonight’s showdown with arch-rival Florida State (36-10) won’t have any bearing on the Southeastern Conference race, getting a win will certainly help the Gators (37-10) when the NCAA selects its regional hosts and seeds the top 16 teams for the tournament. The Gators are almost certain to host a regional, but they have work to do to get to a top eight seed to host a super regional. Florida State finds itself in a similar position, so there is added weight to tonight’s game (6 p.m., SEC Network+) at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

The Gators were in very good shape to host both a regional and super until they dropped a midweek game against South Florida and went into a 3-game tailspin that included losing the first two games at Missouri. The Gators have rebounded to win three of their last four games, but they need a big win not only for NCAA purposes, but to establish momentum heading into the weekend series with Georgia in Athens. Just like the Gators and FSU, Georgia is a mortal lock to host a regional but has work to do to host a super.

Korbe Otis leads the nation in on-base percentage at .592 while leading the SEC and ranking seventh nationally with a .451 batting average.

USA Today/NFCA top 25: 1. Texas 38-6; 2. Oklahoma 42-4; 3. Tennessee 34-8; 4. Oklahoma State 39-8; 5. Duke 39-6; 6. LSU 35-10; 7. Stanford 36-10; 8. Washington 30-8; 9. UCLA 27-9; 10. Texas A&M 37-9; 11. Georgia 36-11; 12. FLORIDA 37-10; 13. Virginia Tech 35-9-1; 14. Missouri 35-13; 15. Arkansas 32-12; 16. Florida State 36-10; 17. Alabama 31-12; 18. Mississippi State 30-13; 19. Arizona 31-13-1; 20. California 31-14; 21. Kentucky 29-15; 22. Clemson 31-15; 23. Boston University 40-4; 24. Oregon 26-16; 25. Louisiana 33-15

ESPN/USA Softball top 25: 1. Texas 38-6; 2. Oklahoma 42-4; 3. Tennessee 34-8; 4. Oklahoma State 39-8; 5. Duke 39-6; 6. UCLA 27-9; 7. LSU 35-10; 8. Stanford 36-10; 9. Georgia 36-11; 10. Washington 30-8; 11. Texas A&M 37-9; 12. FLORIDA 37-10; 13. Arkansas 32-12; 14. Missouri 35-13; 15. Virginia Tech 35-9-1; 16. Florida State 36-10[ 17. Alabama 31-12; 18. Mississippi State 30-13; 19. Louisiana 33-15; 20. Arizona 31-13-1; 21. Clemson 31-15; 22. Kentucky 29-15; 23. Oregon 26-16; 24. Texas State 37-12; 25. California 31-14

D1Softball top 25: 1. Texas 38-6; 2. Oklahoma 42-4; 3. Tennessee 34-8; 4. Oklahoma State 39-8; 5. UCLA 27-9; 6. Stanford 36-10; 7. Duke 39-6; 8. LSU 35-10; 9. Texas A&M 37-9; 10. Georgia 36-11; 11. Washington 30-8; 12. Arkansas 32-12; 13. FLORIDA 37-10; 14. Missouri 35-13; 15. Virginia Tech 35-9-1; 16. Florida State 36-10; 17. Mississippi State 30-13; 18. Arizona 31-13-1; 19. Alabama 31-12; 20. Louisiana 33-15; 21. Northwestern X; 22. Boston University 40-4; 23. Kentucky 29-15; 24. Oregon 26-16; 25. Texas State 37-12

UF TRACK AND FIELD: UF men No. 4; women No. 7

USTFCCCA men’s top 25: 1. Texas A&M; 2. Alabama; 3. LSU; 4. FLORIDA; 5. Texas Tech; 6. Southern California; 7. Texas; 8. Virginia Tech; 9. Arkansas; 10. South Florida; 11. Tennessee; 12. North Carolina; 13. Georgia; 14. Oklahoma State; 15. Mississippi State; 16. Kentucky; 17. Virginia; 18. Auburn; 19. Arizona State; 20. South Carolina; 21. Iowa State; 22. Iowa; 23. Miami; 24. Minnesota; 25. BYU

USTFCCCA women’s top 25: 1. LSU; 2. Arkansas; 3. Texas A&M; 4. Oregon; 5. South Carolina; 6. Illinois; 7. FLORIDA; 8. Georgia; 9. Texas Tech; 10. Tennessee; 11. Ole Miss; 12. Nebraska; 13. Texas; 14. Notre Dame; 15. Alabama; 16. Oklahoma; 17. Harvard; 18. Clemson; 19. Southern California; 20. California; 21. Florida State; 22. Washington; 23. Houston; 24. Michigan; 25. UTEP

UF LACROSSE: Gators ranked 10th

IWLCA top 25: 1. Northwestern 13-2; 2. Notre Dame 14-2; 3. Boston College 13-3; 4. Syracuse 12-4; 5. Michigan 14-2; 6. Virginia 13-3; 7. Maryland 12-4; 8. Yale 12-2; 9. Loyola 14-2; 10. FLORIDA 14-2; 11. Pennsylvania 11-3; 12. Denver 13-3; 13. Stony Brook 14-2; 14. North Carolina 10-5; 15. Johns Hopkins 10-6; 16. Penn State 9-6; 17. James Madison 11-4; 18. Princeton 9-5; 19. Stanford 10-3; 20. Navy 13-3; 21. Southern California 11-4; 22. Fairfield 15-1; 23. Colorado 10-5; 24. Duke 10-7; 25. Harvard 10-3

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The NFL Draft promises to be rather light when it comes to Florida Gators. Ricky Pearsall is close to a mortal lock for the second round. Pearsall is expected to go in the first half of the second round, but even Mel Kiper Jr. thinks he may hear his name called shortly after the first round concludes.

Other than Pearsall, center Kingsley Eguakun is probably the only Gator who will be selected. Most of the mock drafts out there have him going late in the seventh round. He doesn’t have ideal size (barely 300 pounds) and he struggled to handle the bigger, stronger nose tackles one-on-one. To his credit, he’s quite cerebral and if drafted, that will be his ticket.

The scarcity of Gators in the draft says plenty about where the Florida football program was when Billy Napier took over. This was once a football factory but the number of prospects in the program has been on the decline for the last few years. That should never happen at the University of Florida.

To his credit, Napier is rebuilding the Florida program to the point that for the first time since he arrived, the spring roster looked like one that belongs in the Southeastern Conference. When the Gators take the field against any of their SEC opponents this year, they won’t look like large boys playing against grown men for a change. They still have to perform on the field, but it is indeed evident that Napier is putting together a bigger, stronger and faster roster, which is a necessity if the Gators are to rise out of this lake of mediocrity from which they’ve been doing a slow drown since the 2020 season.

What happened to Florida football did not happen overnight and the rebuild hasn’t been an overnight job, either. Napier could have gone the transfer portal route, which has worked well for Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss, but the more players you take from the portal, the bigger a crapshoot it becomes. Lane’s model is working but is it sustainable?

Napier’s choice has been to rebuild the program from the ground up, using the portal as a supplement rather than a main source of talent acquisition. When he finished with spring practice, Napier looked and sounded more confident than at any point since he’s been at Florida. There is still a lot of work to be done, but everything about the way the Gators ended spring combined with the elevation of recruiting seems to indicate that Florida football has either turned the corner or is on the verge.