NASHVILLE, Tenn.– Florida baseball opens a three-game series at No. 13 Vanderbilt tonight spanning from Thursday through Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Field.
Thursday night's series opener airs on SEC Network at 6p.m. ET while game two is on the books for Friday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Saturday's finale is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET and will stream on SEC Network+.
The Gators (19-17, 7-8 SEC)visitthe Commodores (27-10, 8-7 SEC)for the first time since April 15-17, 2022 (L 5-4, L 8-6, W 4-3). The two teams last met at the 2023 SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala. and split a pair of matchups, winning 6-3 and falling 11-6. During the 2023 regular season, Florida swept Vanderbilt across a three-game series in Gainesville (W 10-0, W 6-2, W 6-2), outscoring the Commodores, 22-4, in the set.
Florida leads the all-time series at 147-79-1 (57-47-1 away) and is34-21 (9-12 away) vs. Vanderbilt under head coachKevin O'Sullivan. The Gators are 7-3 against the Dores in the last 10 meetings including 5-1 over the previous six. Florida has won six of the last eight series overall.
Pitching Matchups
| Thursday | 6ET (SECN) | Friday | 7ET (ESPN2) | Saturday | 3 ET (SECN+) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | RHP Brandon Neely (1-1, 5.58 ERA) | TBA | LHP Jac Caglianone (4-0, 3.89 ERA) |
| Vanderbilt | Bryce Cunningham (4-2, 4.70 ERA) | Carter Holton (5-1, 4.15 ERA) | TBA |
| Links | WATCH|LISTEN | WATCH|LISTEN | WATCH|LISTEN |
The Gators dropped out of the D1Baseball Top 25 for the first time this season following a 1-3 week against Florida State and South Carolina.
DOWNLOW ON THE DORES
Vanderbilt has played to a 27-10 record this season while going 8-7 in SEC play. The Dores are slashing .298/.393/.472 with 38 long balls in 37 games and pitching to a 4.31 ERA over 315 innings. Defensively, Vanderbilt wields a .975 fielding percentage.
LAST TIME OUT
The Gators are fresh off a 12-1 home drubbing of Jacksonville in seven innings on Tuesday. The victory represented the 700th of O'Sullivan's 17-year career in Orange & Blue (700-336).Outfielder/infielder Tyler Shelnut recorded his first-career multi-homer game and also set a career-high with five RBI. OutfielderTy Evans and first baseman/designated hitterJac Caglianone each drove in two runs on two hits, with the latter hitting a 516-foot shot over the scoreboard in right field for his 21st home run of the season. On the mound, five UF pitchers combined to allow just five hits across seven innings of one-run ball. Right-handed pitcherJake Clemente opened with two shutout innings and five strikeouts in his first-career start.
WEEKEND WARRIORS
Despite the series loss to South Carolina, the Gators have claimed 22of their last 26 three-game, regular-season series dating back to the 2022 season including 15of 19in SEC play. The Gators are 45-21in weekend series since the start of last season and 54-24across the team's previous 26series at any venue.
THE SEC'S FINEST
Across their last 68 conference tilts, the Gators have gone 44-24 vs. SEC opponents featuring a 36-21 regular-season mark. Dating back to O'Sullivan's first year at UF in 2008, Florida's .612 winning percentage is the best in the conference (284-180).
RELENTLESS REPTILES
Florida boasts 10 come-from-behind wins on the season, with all seven of the team's SEC victories occurring in comeback fashion. The Gators wield three walk-off victories already this year.
HEATING UP
The Florida offense has rediscovered its stroke over the last three games, slashing .373/.467/.686 and scoring 31 runs on 38 hits. Digging deeper, the Gators have totaled an astounding 28 runs on 32 hits in their last 17 offensive innings dating back to the seventh frame of game two against the Gameco*cks.
DINGERS, GEMS, WHIFFS & BRUISES
Florida ranks among the top-15 teams nationally in home runs (fourth - 78), fielding percentage (10th - .980), strikeouts per nine innings (12th - 10.9) and hit-by-pitches (13th - 77). The Gators' 77 HBPs lead the SEC while the team ranks third in the conference in homers and fielding.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING
The longest active on-base streak on the team belongs to Caglianone at 22 games, who also paces Florida with a 15-game hit streak. Caglianoneleads Florida with 20 multi-hit games and 15-multi RBI contests, followed closely by Evans in both categories, who has 17 and 11, respectively. Shelnut boasts 11 multi-RBI games on the year as well.
HEART OF THE ORDER
Florida has four qualified hitters with an OPS above 1.000 in Caglianone (1.342), Evans (1.065), infielder Colby Shelton (1.031) and Shelnut. Each member of the quartet has at least nine home runs and is slugging over .600 while combining for 55 of the Gators' 78 big flies.
THE CAGLIANONE FILE - TRACKING THE HOME RUN STREAK
Caglianone has homered in a program-record seven-straight games and is chasing the all-time NCAA record of nine set by Nevada's Tyler Bosetti in 2021. Caglianone holds status as the fifth player in program history with multiple 20-homer campaigns (Matt LaPorta, Brad Wilkerson, Jud Fabian, Wyatt Langford) and is the fourth to do so in consecutive seasons(excludes LaPorta).
Perhaps most impressively, Caglianone has drawn more walks (21) than strikeouts (14) and leads the Gators in virtually every offensive statistic including batting average (.400), on-base percentage (.494), slugging (.848), home runs (21), RBI (43), runs scored (43), on-base-plus-slugging (1.342) and at bats (145). He sits second in the SEC in homers (second nationally), t-second in hits (58), third in total bases (123), fifth in batting and fifth in slugging. On the mound, he paces the team with a 3.89 ERA and 1.40 WHIP while ranking sixth in the SEC in BAA (.187) across 39 1/3 innings. Among qualified SEC pitchers, Caglianone has allowed the third-fewest hits (26) and seventh-least homers (four).
NEELY DEALS
Friday night starter Brandon Neely returns to the location of his second-career start, when he tossed 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball on just three hits, one walk and seven strikeouts on April 17, 2022 against the Dores. Neely has made three-career appearances against Vandy, owning a 1.74 ERA across 10 1/3 frames with nine strikeouts against just one walk. Thursday marks his fourth start of the season.
TYME TO SHINE
After going hitless for a four-game stretch from March 31 through April 6, Evans has returned to red-hot form over the last six games since: 11-for-24, .458/.536/.833, two home runs, three doubles, nine runs and seven RBI. The junior has logged four multi-hit performances in that six-game stretch. In the last three games in particular, Evans was moved to the leadoff spot and responded by going 8-for-12 with two home runs, three doubles, seven RBI, two game-opening walks (three total) and zero strikeouts. As a result, Evans has improved by more than .100 points in every slash category from last season, as he is hitting .357/.444/.621 across 140 at bats after batting .239/.302/.485 in 163 at bats in 2023. Evans already owns career highs in hits (50), runs scored (36) and walks (14) while his nine home runs are tied for his most in a single season.
BRO BOMBS
In the month of April, catcher/designated hitterBrody Donay is hitting .533/.611/1.133 (8-for-15) backed by three homers, nine RBI and six runs scored in just six games (four starts). The UF catcher/designated hitter wields a .293/.379/.569 slash line this year highlighted by five long balls.
COPPOLA'S COMEBACK
Redshirt sophom*ore left-handerPierce Coppola returned to the mound for the first time in 783 days last Saturday to start again South Carolina. Coppola opened the 2022 season in the UF rotation and pitched 4 1/3 innings of two run ball with seven strikeouts on Opening Weekend vs. Liberty, but did not make his second appearance in a Gators uniform until last Saturday vs. SC.
McDEALIN' IN THE SEC
After struggling out of the gates with a 19.89 ERA through his first four collegiate appearances, freshman rightyLuke McNeillie has dominated in SEC play to the tune of a 2.51 ERA, .220 batting average against and 18 strikeouts against six walks in 14 1/3 conference frames. At 2-2, he is tied for the team lead in SEC victories while making a team-high eight appearances in league play. As a result, he has lowered his ERA all the way to 7.20 on the year.
JAC'S BIG BLAST
When Caglianone homered for the seventh-straight contest on Tuesday vs. Jacksonville, his fifth-inning blast traveled an estimated 516 feet over the scoreboard in right field at Condron Family Ballpark. The home run marked the longest in UF baseball history and is further than any batted ball ever tracked by StatCast.
SULLY SUPERLATIVES
Since O'Sullivan's 2008 arrival, no college program has more CWS trips (8), Super Regionals hosted (nine), top-eight national seeds (10) and NCAA Tournament bids (15) than the Florida Gators. Overall, Florida's 15-straight NCAA bids represent the second-longest active streak in the sport. The Gators have also hosted 12 NCAA Regionals out of a possible 15 during O'Sullivan's tenure (no NCAA Tournament in 2020), which ranks first in the nation. Looking at the SEC specifically, Florida's .617 winning percentage (277-172) since 2008 is the top mark in the conference.
ON DECK
Florida returns home to host Stetson on Tuesday, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.
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