Shelnut Swings Florida Past No. 13 Vanderbilt - Florida Gators (2024)

Camden Hall

• Box Score

Game Recap: Baseball | Saturday, April 20, 2024 | Sullivan Bortner

NASHVILLE, Tenn. –Highlighted by a career game from third baseman Tyler Shelnut, Florida came from behind to defeat No. 13 Vanderbilt by a score of 6-2 at Hawkins Field on Saturday afternoon.

With the performance, the Gators own 11 comeback wins on the season and have come from behind in all eight of the team's conference victories. Shelnut (2-for-5) was the hero in the finale, as he homered and doubled en route to a five-RBI day. On the hill, Jac Caglianone fired five strong innings of two-run ball and Fisher Jameson closed it out with 3 1/3 scoreless, one-hit innings of relief to earn the save.

The Commodores (29-11, 10-8 SEC) and Gators (20-19, 8-10 SEC) traded zeros across the first two frames, with Caglianone stranding one baserunner in each inning while striking out two batters. Vanderbilt eventually broke through in the third, snatching a 2-0 lead on a two-run double down the left-field line by Alan Espinal.

Florida got one run right back in the top of the fourth to cut the deficit in half, with Colby Shelton hitting an automatic double to right field and later scoring on an RBI two-bagger into the right-center gap off the bat of Cade Kurland.

After Landon Russell worked a full count with two outs, Vanderbilt starter JD Thompson was ejected from the contest for the use of illegal foreign substances. That forced the Commodores to call on reliever Ethan McElvain, but the southpaw was injured during warm-up tosses and replaced by right-hander Luke Guth who utilized a strikeout to send a 2-1 matchup into the bottom of the fourth.

Caglianone stranded a pair of Commodores in the bottom half by utilizing two strikeouts, allowing the Gators to jump in front in the top of the fifth. Jaylen Guy was hit by a pitch and Caglianone walked to set the table before Shelnut hammered a two-out, 0-2 offering over the left-field wall for a go-ahead, three-run home run.

Leading 4-2, Caglianone blanked the Dores in the fifth aided by a diving grab in right-center field to end the inning by Ty Evans. Caglianone exited at the onset of the sixth and with the bases loaded and two outs, Florida called on Jameson to calm the tide. Jameson needed just one pitch to induce a groundout of RJ Austin to shortstop to maintain the two-run UF edge through six frames.

Jameson held Vanderbilt in check again in the seventh, striking out two more batters to strand a two-out single. The right-hander retired the side in order in the eighth while raising his strikeout total to four.

Florida got some much-needed insurance in the ninth to push its lead to 6-2. With two outs and runners on second and third, Shelnut delivered a two-run double into the left-center field gap to plate Guy and Caglianone.

Jameson ultimately pitched the Orange & Blue across the finish line, working a clean ninth inning to cement a 5-2 win. He finished with 3 1/3 scoreless frames, allowing just one hit and striking out six.

Caglianone (5-0) picked up the victory on five innings of two-run ball. The southpaw was charged with six hits allowed, three walks and five strikeouts.

Guth (1-1) was saddled with the loss, as he surrendered three earned runs over 1 1/3 innings on one hit and two walks. He struck out two.

Vanderbilt starter JD Thompson did not factor into the contest, having been ejected in the fourth. He allowed one earned run over 3 2/3 frames on four hits and two walks while fanning six.

Shelnut, Shelton (2-for-5) and Kurland (2-for-5) logged multi-hit games.

NOTABLES

• Saturday's official attendance was 3,802.
• The Gators own 11 comeback wins on the season.
• Florida has come from behind in all eight of the team's SEC victories.
• Vanderbilt's starter, Thompson, was ejected with two outs in the top of the fourth inning for illegal use of foreign substances.
• Caglianone's streak of nine-straight games with a home run was snapped on Saturday.
  • On Friday, Caglianone tied the NCAA record set by Nevada's Tyler Bosetti in 2021 by homering for a ninth-straight game in the sixth inning.
  • Caglianone extended his on-base streak to 25 games and hitting streak to 18 games.
• Shelnut hit a three-run shot for his 12th home run to give Florida the lead in the fifth.
  • With a two-run double in the ninth, Shelnut tied his career high with five RBI.
• Florida put the leadoff man on base in each of the first six innings, finishing with seven of nine.
• Jameson earned the second save of his career on 3 1/3 shutout innings and a career-high six strikeouts.
• Across the team's last 71 tilts against SEC teams, Florida is 45-26.
  • That includes a 37-23 regular-season mark.
• The Gators are 46-23 in weekend series since the start of last season and 55-26 across their last 27 series.
• Florida is now 148-81-1 all-time vs. Vanderbilt including 58-49-1 in Nashville.
  • The Gators are 35-23 against the Commodores under head coach Kevin O'Sullivan (10-14 away).

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
On the victory…
"This is one we obviously needed. Jac [Caglianone] gave us a really good start, really good start. I think playing him on Tuesday, not playing on first has helped in his last few starts. I think he's got his legs underneath him DH'ing him on Tuesday. Obviously, Fisher Jameson came in and was just outstanding again. He's been good the last couple of weeks, really, really good. Getting the ball down. Then, obviously, Tyler Shelnut had a big day. The three-run homer. The double there in the ninth was huge for us to extend our lead. Overall, it was a good day for us and we needed this one."

On Shelnut's home run…
"No doubt. We kind of knew during BP that the ball wasn't going to carry today, but he put a really good swing on it, 0-2 pitch. The thing about it is, he had a little bit of a rough weekend coming into today. I think he struck out his first at bat, but he kept his head into it. Obviously, the game always comes back around to you, and he had some really good at bats after his first one, for sure."

On moving forward…
"It's been frustrating. We've been through this quite a few times after some games, but we put ourselves in this position. The only people that can change it is us. Obviously, everything is in front of us and every game matters. I just talked about it again. Tuesday night is another big game for us. Every game seems like a playoff game and we're going to have to continue to play well, that's for sure."

UP NEXT
Florida returns home to host Stetson on Tuesday with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.