The Florida Gators posted a 4-1 record throughout the Gainesville Regional, advancing to the Super Regionals for the first time since 2018 after three straight wins facing elimination.
Gator Country provides five takeaways from Florida’s successful weekend of baseball.
BEST STRECTH OF PITCHING IN 2023
Florida’s staff pitched to an ERA of 1.64 across 44 innings, allowing just eight runs in five games.
Perhaps the most impressive part of the weekend was that the staff got stronger as the week progressed. Cade Fisher and Ryan Slater combined for 12 innings of one run ball during the Gators’ fourth and fifth games of the tournament. If these two can continue to provide quality outings for Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad, the Gators will be the team to beat throughout the rest of the postseason.
Florida’s bullpen allowed three runs in 10 innings of work while Gators’ closer Brandon Neely tossed four shutout innings.
RHP Hurston Waldrep was sensational, striking out 12 batters and allowing just one run in his seven innings of work. His performance earned him a spot on the Gainesville Regional All-Tournament Team.
LIVING BY THE LONG BALL
Despite the wind blowing in a majority of the weekend, the Gators still managed to hit seven home runs throughout the weekend, accounting for half of Florida’s runs (14 of 28). Their seven home runs could have easily been double digits if the wind wasn’t playing a factor.
Jac Caglianone took back the lead atop the Nations home run leaderboard after launching three home runs last weekend (31). Caglianone is one home run shy of tying the BBCOR home run record set by Ivan Melendez in 2022. The Gators’ two-way player was recently named a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award.
COMEBACK KIDS
The Florida Gators advanced in their own regional despite needing to win three games in a row after losing in the second round. Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad played 27 innings in 27 hours, allowing just three runs in the final three games of the regional.
“Proud of our team, we played 27 innings in 27 hours basically,” Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan said after Monday’s victory. “I can’t speak for them, but it’s a little bit exhausting to be honest with you. Look forward to having tonight and tomorrow off and then get back at it and see if we’re going to play on Friday or Saturday.”
It’s not easy to win three straight games facing elimination, but the Gators made it look easy, outscoring their opponents 21-3 in the process.
FLASHING THE LEATHER
The Gators didn’t commit a single error in five games within the Gainesville Regional.
Wyatt Langford was the MVP of the outfield, while Colby Halter and Cade Kurland held down the Gators’ infield.
Infielder Josh Rivera and outfielder Richie Schiekofer slammed the door on the opening round game against Florida A&M as both players threw out runners at the plate in the 9th inning.
QUALITY STARTS ARE THE KEY TO SUCCSESS
If we learned anything this week, it’s that quality starts are the key to success with this Gators baseball team.
Pitching depth was sure to be an issue for Kevin O’Sullivan’s ballclub after Florida dropped their second game of the weekend to Texas Tech.
However, the superb starting pitching we saw all tournament set Florida up for success. Caglianone started the weekend by giving the Gators six strong innings on Friday night. Brandon Sproat wasn’t on his A-game, but still tossed six innings in Florida’s second round game.
It became evident that Florida would need deep starts from their pitchers after dropping into the loser’s bracket. The Gators got exactly that as Hurston Waldrep and Cade Fisher tossed seven innings in back-to-back games.
“We wouldn’t be in the position to have enough pitching for tomorrow if we didn’t those two starts from Hurston and from Cade,” O’Sullivan said after Sunday’s victory. “We are in good shape for tomorrow.”
Florida was able to capitalize on their fairly healthy bullpen, pitching a shutout in game seven of the Gainesville Regional.