No.7 Florida gains sole possession of first place in SEC East after sweep of No.5 Vanderbilt

Bring out the brooms, the Gators got the sweep.

No.7 Florida defeated No.5 Vanderbilt 6-2 in Sunday’s series finale, completing the three-game sweep of the Commadores inside Condron Family Ballpark.

The Gators (40-12, 18-9 SEC) take sole possession of first place in the SEC East after the victory.

Following a clean first inning from Florida’s starter Jac Caglianone, Wyatt Langford blasted a two-run home run in the bottom half of the frame, putting the Gators on the board in game three.

Later in the inning, Luke Heyman grounded out to third base with the bases loaded, scoring Caglianone while giving Florida an immediate 3-0 lead. This was a veteran at bat from a true freshman. Heyman found himself down in the count early, fouled off some very tough pitches before putting a hard-hit ball in play.

The Gators found one run in both the fourth and fifth innings after a pair of clutch two-out RBI base knocks from Wyatt Langford and BT Riopelle, extending the Gators lead to 5-0.

Jac Caglianone’s outing was the best of his career as the left hander tossed a career high 6.2 innings, allowing one earned run, one hit, and one walk while striking out a career high nine strikeouts. Caglianone (5-2) earned his fifth victory on the season.

The Tampa native pounded the strikeout while working in a successful mix of three different off-speed pitches (changeup, slider, curveball). When Vandy did put the ball in play, it wasn’t hit very hard as Caglianone did a great job of missing barrels on Sunday afternoon. The only run he allowed wasn’t scored directly off of him, as Brandon Neely took over in the 7th with two outs and a runner on first, which would later come around to score.

Wyatt Langford smashed his second home run of the day to right field in the bottom of the 7th inning, giving the Gators a comfortable 6-1 lead. The long ball marked the 7th multi-home run game of Langford’s career and his 14th on the season.

Florida’s closer, Brandon Neely, tossed 2.1 innings in relief to close out the game for the Gators. The Seville, Florida native allowed one run on three hits in his second appearance in the series. Neely found the strike zone on 27 of his 32 pitches.

The Gators travel to Lexington, Kentucky to take on the Wildcats in the final SEC series of the regular season.