Florida’s bats back up Waldrep’s 12 Ks in elimination-game win

Hurston Waldrep was dominant and Jac Caglianone hit monster home runs on Sunday as the Florida Gators took down the Connecticut Huskies and stayed alive in the Gainesville Regional.

The Florida Gators baseball team will live to see another game after the bats finally came alive in an 8-2 win over the Connecticut Huskies Sunday afternoon.

Facing elimination, the Gators got Hurston Waldrep’s very best on the mound, and the offense finally sustained a big lead for multiple innings. Waldrep went seven innings strong, striking out 12 and allowing just one earned run on five hits and two walks.

As usual, Waldrep’s splitter devastated opposing batters, generating a ton of swing-and-miss throughout the day. He only got stronger as the game carried on and pitch 101 looked just as good as the first strike of the day.

Florida’s offense has disappointed throughout the first two games of this Gainesville Regional, but it looks like things are finally trending in the right direction at the plate for this club.

The turning point came in the fourth inning when Florida put up a four-spot. Huskies starter Garrett Coe had worked his way out of trouble a few times during the first three innings of the game, but a comebacker that caught him on the rear forced him to leave the game.

Right-hander Will Novak came in to deal with Wyatt Langford, who broke a 1-1 tie with a sacrifice fly, and lefty Zach Fogell came in for the same-side matchup with Jac Caglianone.

He’d already missed a grand slam earlier in the day thanks to the wind (the ball came off the bat at 100 mph+), but Cags wasn’t missing this one. He took Fogell deep to right-center, breaking things open to a 5-1 lead.

Caglianone didn’t stop there, though. He took sole possession of the national lead for home runs with a two-run shot in the ninth, providing a pair of big runs for the team. That puts him two away from Ivan Melendez’s BBCOR-era record of 33, set last season.

Speaking of insurance runs, Ty Evans added a crucial run for the Gators in the fifth. Evans hadn’t started a game since April, so this was a really big confidence booster for him, especially after striking out in his first at-bat of the day.

Kevin O’Sullivan decided to go with Evans in right field and give Michael Robertson’s struggling bat a break. Sully had Dale Thomas pinch-hit for Robertson in the ninth inning of the Texas Tech game on Saturday, so this wasn’t too surprising of a move.

Langford simply shifts over to center field, which is where a lot of MLB organizations are going to try him out anyway, and Tyler Shlenut moved over to left from right. There weren’t any glaring defensive mistakes in the win, but losing Robertson’s glove because of his bat is tough. At least the move paid off in this one.

Evans’ fourth-inning RBI made a big difference once the bullpen came in for Florida. Nick Ficarrotta struck out two in the eighth but gave up a run in the process. A nice play from Colby Halter to get the second out of the inning helped stopped the bleeding.

Caglianone’s second homer made the decision to bring Fic back out for the ninth. He struck out the side and now Florida gets a shot at revenge against Texas Tech.

The Gators and Red Raiders will clash at 6 p.m. EDT later tonight (Sunday). The SEC’s leading closer, Brandon Neely, is an option to start for Florida, as are Tyler Nesbitt and Yoel Tejeda Jr.

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