It’s time to bring out the brooms as the No.7 Florida Gators completed the sweep against Charleston Southern, defeating the Bucs 8-0 on Sunday afternoon.
Jac Caglianone’s pitching debut carried Florida to victory in the series finale. The 6-5, 245 pounder finished with an official line of 6.2 innings, zero runs, two hits, one walk, one HBP, and nine strikeouts on 79 pitches.
Caglianone’s nine strikeouts mark the most in a Gators’ pitching debut since 2011.
The hard throwing left-hander opened the game pumping 97 mph, reaching 99 mph in the first inning of the game. Caglianone’s velocity consistency hovered around 95 mph as the game progressed, never seeing a significant drop off in 79 pitches.
Caglianone worked quickly and pounded the strike zone, posting a strike percentage of 72.1 in the contest. The Tampa native fired 14 straight strikes at one point in the game.
The Gators struck first for the first time in the three-game series after Ty Evans doubled down the left field line in the bottom of the 1st, bringing home Josh Rivera and BT Riopelle.
Evans would later double down the left field again, resulting in another two-run RBI double in the 7th.
Freshman Luke Heyman recorded his first collegiate base hit, tripling off the center field wall in the bottom of the 2nd, bringing home fellow freshman Cade Kurland to extend the Gators lead to 3-0. Heyman finished 2-3 at the plate while playing elite defense at catcher.
Florida wouldn’t find the scoreboard again until the 7th inning after the Bucs had to dip into their bullpen. CSU’s ace, Evan Truitt, posted an impressive stat line in his 2023 debut, lasting six innings, allowing five hits and one earned run while striking out five batters. His unique delivery may have created some timing issues for Gator hitters.
The Gators rallied for five runs in the 7th due to three walks by Buccaneer relivers and situational hitting from Josh Rivera.
Sophomore right handers Blake Purnell and Brandon Neely pitched the last 2.1 innings for Florida. Purnell threw one inning on 10 pitches, striking out one Buccaneer in the process. Neely came in for Purnell in the top of the 8th inning with two outs and nobody on base. Coach Sullivan wanted to make sure Neely saw the mound today and was concerned that the Gators would score two runs in the bottom half of the inning, ending the game via the new SEC run-rule. Neely pitched a perfect 1.1 innings on 19 pitches.
Strikes were the storyline of the Gators’ pitchers this afternoon, combing for a strike percentage of 70.4 through nine innings, walking a combined one batter.
Florida is set for two non-conference games against South Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, with the first being in Tampa and the second in Gainesville.