Florida prevails over Georgia in slugfest, earns series win

The Gator secured a regular-season record two games above the .500 mark and now await the SEC Tournament seedings.

Florida baseball scored all the runs it would need in this one during a fourth inning that saw a dozen Gators cross the plate. After the Georgia Bulldogs built an early 3-0 lead against starter [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag], the bats exploded en route to a 19-11 victory in Athens on Saturday.

Cags lasted just 2 1/3 innings in what is expected to be his final regular-season game for the Orange and Blue, coughing up a trio of runs on three hits and four walks while striking out two. [autotag]Fisher Jameson[/autotag] earned the win with 3 2/3 frames of three-run ball while [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] surrendered four runs in 1 1/3 innings and [autotag]Jake Clemente[/autotag] let one more through in 1/3 of an inning.

[autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag] wrapped things up with a 1 1/3 innings of one-hit, no-run ball.

[autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] went 2-for-4 with both hits leaving the park and Caglianone went 1-for-5 with a dinger of his own — both sending one over the fence in the 12-run fourth. [autotag]Tyler Shelnut[/autotag]’s three hits, two of which were doubles, led Florida on the day.

The only Gators that failed to get a hit were [autotag]Brody Donay[/autotag] and [autotag]Dale Thomas[/autotag], though the former reached base twice on walks.

Georgia starter Zach Harris took his first loss of the season after surrendering four earned runs across 3 1/3 innings. The right-hander allowed four hits and struck out two before six other pitchers combined to finish things off.

Florida now awaits its bracket designation in the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Alabama, scheduled to begin on Tuesday, May 21.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.