No. 3 Florida (23-5, 6-2 SEC) evened the series by defeating Auburn 12-5 on Saturday night, giving head coach Kevin O’Sullivan his 650th career win.
The Gators put on an offensive clinic after scoring just one run on Friday night, totaling 19 hits in eight innings at the plate.
Auburn found the scoreboard in the first inning after Florida’s starter Hurston Waldrep allowed the first two batters to reach base. A quick mound visit allowed Waldrep to settle down and get out of the inning allowing just one run.
Florida immediately answered with a two-run home run off the bat of Jac Caglianone, his 18th long ball of the season.
After a clean second frame, the Tigers regained the lead on a two-run shot of their own.
The Gators answered once again, plating five runs on four hits in the bottom of the third inning. Tyler Shelnut came up with a clutch bases loaded single, bringing home Josh Rivera and Wyatt Langford. Colby Halter and Michael Robertson also found themselves RBI base knocks, extending Florida’s lead to 7-3.
Kevin O’ Sullivan’s squad has frequently answered early leads by opposing teams all season long, which is very difficult to accomplish when you are dealing with SEC pitching.
Waldrep dealt through the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, striking out eight batters and allowing no hits during that span. O’Sullivan stated that those three innings was the best Waldrep has pitched in a few weeks.
Waldrep’s official line was six innings pitched, three runs, four hits, six walks, and ten strikeouts.
Command was a real issue for Waldrep tonight as his strike percentage hovered just over 53% for the game.
Waldrep (5-1, 4.74 ERA) is one of the best swing and miss pitchers in the country. If he can find the plate, he’s as good as it gets.
RHP Nick Ficarrotta was the first reliver out of the bullpen for the Gators, but he didn’t last very long, tossing a third of an inning while allowing two runs on three hits.
Florida’s closer, Brandon Neely, took over in the seventh and finished the game off for the Gators, completing 2.2 innings while allowing one hit and one walk in the contest. Neely’s fast pace helped him strike out three Tiger batters.
The Gators found insurance runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, giving Florida a comfortable lead for Brandon Neely.
Jac Caglianone totaled three hits in the contest and was a double shy of the cycle. The two-way player added four RBI and two runs scored to his stat sheet.
Everyone in Florida’s lineup recorded at least one hit including seven batters contributing multiple hits against Auburn pitching (Evans, Caglianone, Rivera, Halter, Robertson, Shelnut, Riopelle) and two recording three hits (Rivera and Caglianone).
The Gators were 7-14 (.500) at the plate with two outs and 7-17 (.412) with runners in scoring position, a huge improvement over yesterday’s performance.
Florida will look to take the series over Auburn in tomorrow’s rubber match at 1:00 PM.