Tag: Brandon Neely

Florida changing up weekend rotation ahead of Mississippi State series

The Brandon Neely starter rumors have been around for awhile, but Kevin O’Sullivan is finally pulling the trigger after a slow start to 2024.

Florida baseball’s woes have come mostly during the midweek, but head coach Kevin O’Sullivan is changing up the weekend rotation ahead of a three-game series with Mississippi State in Gainesville.

Right-handed junior [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] will take over the Friday night slot, replacing sophomore lefty Cade Fisher. Freshman Liam Peterson and junior Jac Caglianone will stay in the Saturday and Sunday spots.

Neely, a preseason All-American reliever, began the season as the closer after serving in the same role for Florida throughout 2023. He last started a game for the Gators in a June 2022 regional game against Oklahoma. In 10 career starts, Neely is 2-3 with a 3.60 ERA.

The change comes following a run-rule loss to Florida State on Tuesday.

“We have to set the tone in games,” O’Sullivan said following the loss. “We can’t keep doing this. We can only come back so many times. We have to do a better job on the front end of games and we’ll figure it out.”

It’s unclear how Neely’s addition to the weekend rotation affects Fisher, who was one of the team’s top relievers last year. Moving him back to the bullpen makes sense, considering Florida’s left-handed options are limited to a pair of freshmen — Frank Menendez and Robert Satin remain following Jacob Gomberg’s season-ending injury.

Neely has a 4.50 ERA through 16 innings (11 appearances) this season, but he’s been excellent since the Saint Mary’s series. He’s riding an eight-inning scoreless streak and has struck out 13 batters to just two walks.

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Florida closer Brandon Neely earns SEC Pitcher of the Week honors

After hurling six scoreless innings against Florida State and Texas A&M, Florida closer Brandon Neely is the SEC Pitcher of the Week.

After a shaky start to the season, Florida’s closer, Brandon Neely, has been named the SEC Pitcher of the Week after throwing six scoreless innings during Week 5 of the college baseball season.

Neely first appeared in a losing effort against Florida State. He struck out the side on 18 pitches, keeping him fresh for a three-inning save on Friday night against Texas A&M. Neely struck out another three, surrendering just one hit in his first appearance against the Aggies, and then returned on Sunday to go two more.

Although he walked two batters in the series finale, Neely earned the win after a Tyler Shelnut go-ahead, two-run home run. Luke McNeillie closed out the game because Neely had some bicep tightness, but he should be good moving forward.

On Friday, head coach Kevin O’Sullivan expressed frustration over Neely’s usage through the first 17 games. He said that they wanted to use him more like Arkansas did Hagan Smith a year ago. Winning on Friday nights is big, and Sully knows he has perhaps the nation’s best Sunday arm in Jac Caglianone to lean on to close things out.

A preseason All-American, Neely is just starting to live up to expectations. This might not be the last time he takes home an SEC weekly award, especially considering how young the rest of Florida’s bullpen is.

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Two Gators named Preseason All-Americans by D1Baseball

Two Florida Gators made it onto D1Baseball’s 2024 Preseason All-America teams, two-way star Jac Caglianone and closer Brandon Neely.

Florida baseball two-way star Jac Caglianone and right-handed pitcher Brandon Neely were named preseason All-Americans by D1Baseball on Monday.

Caglianone landed on the First Team as a utility player since he hits and pitches. The left-handed slugger set the BBCOR-era record for home runs with 33 in 2023 and drove in 90 runs. He’ll be at the heart of Florida’s lineup every night and start games on the mound for the Gators on Sundays this year.

Neely, who is returning as the Gators’ closer this year, lands on the Second Team. He notched 13 saves in 2023, the most among all preseason All-Americans. Neely appeared 34 times for Florida last year, making him one of the more high-usage closers in the country. Not to mention, he routinely came out for multi-inning saves.

The Gators begin the season at home on Friday, February 16 against the St. John’s Red Storm. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET at Condron Family Ballpark.

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Perfect Game names 3 Gators as Preseason All-Americans

Baseball season is just around the corner and Florida once again features some of the nation’s best — three Preseason All-Americans, in fact.

Baseball season is just six weeks away, and the Florida Gators are gearing up for another College World Series push after finishing as the runner-up in 2023.

Florida lost an incredible amount of talent to the draft, including two starting pitchers and No. 4 overall pick Wyatt Langford, but Kevin O’Sullivan knows how to reload for each season. The Gators start the season with three All-Americans on the roster, according to Perfect Game.

Making the first team, as a two-way player, is Jac Caglianone. He set the school record and national BBCOR-era record with 33 home runs a season ago and served as Florida’s Sunday starter for most of the season. Fall reports have Caglianone nearing triple digits off the mound, but accuracy is always the question. If he can locate his fastball at that velocity, he’ll become one of the most interesting draft prospects of all time.

On the second team is a new Gator, transfer infielder Colby Shelton. He slashes .300/.419/.729 for Alabama as a freshman in 2023 and could easily work his way up to the first team. Shelton’s bat is as sure as it gets, but the glove is the question mark in his game, especially moving from third to short.

Finally, Brandon Neely — who served as Florida’s closer last year — is on the third team. He’s listed as a relief pitcher, but there has been some talk of Neely returning to the starting rotation. Neely was a starting pitcher for Florida as a freshman, but he moved into that closer role and thrived.

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Four Florida Gators among D1Baseball’s Top 100 College prospects

Jac Caglianone could be the first overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft, but who are the other Gators that have draft potential?

Fall baseball is just about to begin, and the folks at D1Baseball.com are getting the ball rolling with an early ranking of the top 100 college prospects for the upcoming MLB draft. Four Gators made the cut.

First baseman and left-handed pitcher Jac Caglianone sits at No. 1 and figures to be one of the most interesting players in the country to follow over the next 10 months. Caglianone put up record power numbers at Florida as a sophomore. He led the nation with 33 home runs and finished the season with a 1.122 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

On the mound, things didn’t go as well for Cags, but there’s no denying he has some of the best stuff in the country when he’s on. His fastball can touch triple digits, but he’s more likely to throw it for a strike around 96 mph. The slider is devastating against lefties, and the changeup showed a ton of promise a season ago.

If Caglianone can live up to the lofty expectations set for him, he’ll easily hang on to that No. 1 spot.

Alabama transfer Colby Shelton was the biggest offseason addition to Florida’s roster, and he should man either third base or shortstop for the Gators this season. As a freshman with the Crimson Tide, Shelton hit 25 homers and put up a 1.143 OPS (higher than Caglianone).

Despite being a sophomore, Shelton will be draft-eligible by age in July. D1Baseball has him at No. 50 on its list.

Right-handed pitcher Brandon Neely is the next Gator on the list at No. 67 overall. He transitioned to the bullpen and thrived as a closer last year, but Neely could revert back to a starter with Brandon Sproat and Hurston Waldrep gone.

Rounding out the group is catcher Luke Heyman, who is another draft-eligible sophomore. Heyman took a while to catch fire, but he has a ton of power in his bat. He hit 12 homers in 55 games as a freshman, but that number could jump up to 20 with ease this year.

The Florida Gators usually have a few names go in the first few rounds of the draft each season, and it looks like that trend isn’t going to break anytime soon.

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Two Gators make USA Baseball Collegiate National Team

The College World Series might be over, but Jac Caglianone and Brandon Neely aren’t done playing ball for the summer. They’ll represent the USA on the Collegiate National Team.

Florida two-way superstar [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] and closer [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] will represent the United States of America as members of the USA Collegiate National Team this summer.

The team will compete in two five-game series with Chinese Taipei and Japan in the Carolinas from June 30 to July 12. Neither Gator participated in the four-game intrasquad series that took place leading up to the international games, but Caglianone and Neely are with the team.

Caglianone slashed .323/.389/.738 in 2023 with 33 home runs and 90 runs batted in. That RBI total is good for the Florida record, and the home runs are an NCAA BBCOR-era record.

Neely was lights out as a close, especially following an ejection during the Georgia series. He finished the season as an All-American for various outlets and with a 3.58 ERA and 72 strikeouts over 55 1/3 innings pitched.

Last year, Wyatt Langford and Hurston Waldrep were with the team, as was head coach Kevin O’Sullivan.

A full list of participants can be found below, per USA Baseball:

2023 Collegiate National Team Roster

(Name; Position; Hometown; School)

  • Ben Abeldt; LHP; McKinney, Texas; TCU
  • Matt Ager; RHP; Pleasanton, Calif.; UC Santa Barbara
  • Drew Beam; RHP; Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Tennessee
  • Jac Caglianone; LHP/1B; Tampa, Fla.; Florida
  • Charlie Condon; 1B/OF; Marietta, Ga.; Georgia
  • Christian Coppola; RHP; Galloway, N.J.; Rutgers
  • Kaelen Culpepper; INF; Memphis, Tenn.; Kansas State
  • Duce Gourson; INF; San Diego, Calif.; UCLA
  • Rodney Green, Jr.; OF; Richmond, Calif.; Cal
  • Luke Holman; RHP; Sinking Spring, Pa.
  • *Carter Holton; LHP; Guyton, Ga.; Vanderbilt
  • Ryan Johnson; RHP; Red Oak, Texas; Dallas Baptist
  • Seaver King; INF; Athena, Ga.; Wake Forest
  • Jace LaViolette; OF; Katy, Texas; Texas A&M
  • Michael Massey; RHP; Suwanee, Ga.; Wake Forest
  • Xavier Meachem; RHP; Winterville, N.C.; NC A&T
  • Omar Melendez; LHP; Cayey, P.R.; Alabama State
  • Braden Montgomery; OF/RHP; Madison, Miss.; Stanford
  • ^Malcolm Moore; C; Sacramento, Calif.; Stanford
  • ^Christian Moore; INF; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Tennessee
  • Brandon Neely; RHP; Seville, Fla.; Florida
  • Tyson Neighbors; RHP; Royse City, Texas; Kansas State
  • Griff O’Ferrall; INF; Richmond, Va.; Virginia
  • Fran Oschell III; RHP; Phoenixville, Pa.; Duke
  • Kyle Robinson; RHP; Vienna, Va.; Texas Tech
  • Hagen Smith; LHP; Bullard, Texas; Arkansas
  • Ryan Stafford; C; Folsom, Calif.; Cal Poly
  • JJ Wetherholt; INF; Mars, Pa.; West Virginia
  • Nicholas Wilson; RHP; Carrollton, Texas; Southern
  • Jay Woolfolk; RHP; Chesterfield, Va.; Virginia
  • Trey Yesavage; RHP; Boyertown, Pa.; East Carolina

*denotes national team alum

^denotes National Team Development Program (NTDP) participant

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PHOTOS: Highlights from Brandon Neely’s 2023 campaign

Just a few pics here of Brandon Neely’s 2023 campaign.

Sophomore relief pitcher [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] took a step back in his second season with Florida baseball following a solid freshman campaign last spring. Anointed the closer by head coach Kevin O’Sullivan for the 2023 campaign, the right-hander from Seville, Florida, struggled in the finishing role despite logging 10 saves.

After spinning 69 1/3 innings last year to the tune of a 3.76 ERA, the underclassman threw just 39 2/3 innings with a 4.08 ERA to show for it — though he did make four more appearances than last season. His strikeout numbers were up significantly, however, rising from 1.1 to 1.4 ks per inning.

Take a look below at a few photographs from Brandon Neely’s sophomore campaign with the Florida Gators.

Gators take down FSU, Caglianone ties school home run record

Jac Caglianone tied the program single-season home run record, Blake Purnell had a career outing in relief and Florida swept the season series against FSU with a 7-5 win Tuesday night.

Gainesville has never seen a power hitter like [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag], and the Florida first baseman etched his name into the program record books with his 26th home run of the season during a 7-5 win over Florida State on Tuesday night.

Caglianone’s line drive home run might have only traveled some 325 feet, but it counts the same as his 480-foot tank against Missouri over the weekend. He ties the school record held by Matt LaPorta and teammate [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag]. Caglianone should set the new mark over the weekend against Texas A&M and could pass the 30-homer threshold by the season’s end if he keeps on his current pace of one every eight plate appearances.

The Gators have three series left for Caglianone to do some damage in the regular season, and he’ll likely add to his home run total throughout the SEC and NCAA tournaments.

Caglianone’s home run was a part of back-to-back jacks to lead off the top of the fifth inning and put the Gators out in front, 7-5. [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] hit the first homer of the inning, and that score held for the rest of the night.

Most of the scoring came in the first inning of the game. Florida State once again threw Ben Barrett, and Florida went with [autotag]Clete Hartzog[/autotag], who has worked exclusively out of the bullpen this season. Neither made it out of the first, giving up at least four runs each, with Hartzog failing to record an out.

[autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] took over and pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Hartzog, and [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] took over in the fourth. Purnell has struggled this season. He fell out of the weekend bullpen rotation after leading the team in appearances a year ago, but Tuesday was a career night for the St. Thomas Aquinas alumnus.

Purnell struck out eight over five innings, setting new career highs in both categories. If the Gators can get Purnell back for an inning or two every weekend, a ton of pressure will be taken off some other arms in the ‘pen and the starters.

An extra bullpen arm or two can make the difference deep in a tournament, so it’s very encouraging to see Purnell return to form. [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] closed out the game for save No. 2 on the year as [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] rested up for the upcoming series against Texas A&M.

Florida is at College Station for a three-game series starting on Friday.

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Neely holds on for second-straight save, Florida sweeps Mizzou

After being swept a week ago by South Carolina, the Florida Gators brought the brooms out and took care of Missouri.

For the second-straight night, Florida’s closer [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] closed out the game and delivered the Gators an 8-7 win over the Missouri Tigers.

Saves aren’t always notable, but they are when a closer is coming back from being ejected and suspended for four games. That’s what happened to Neely on the final day of the Georgia series, which meant he had to miss all three games Florida played against South Carolina last week. The bullpen seemed uneasy without Neely as an anchor, and the SEC saves leader showed exactly why he’s so important to this club on Sunday against Mizzou.

Neely entered the game after [autotag]Ryan Slater[/autotag] surrendered three straight singles in relief of [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag]. A five-run lead had shrunk to just two, and Kevin O’Sullivan wasn’t risking things. Of course, Neely set the three batters he faced down in order, ending things with a looking strike out on Luke Mann. A run did score on a sacrifice fly for out No. 1, though.

Neely had little margin for error in the ninth, and it was a roller coaster of an inning. The first two outs came like clockwork, but Juju Stevens almost hit a game-tying home run that landed maybe six inches foul of the pole down the left-field line. Richie Schiekofer made an incredible effort on the ball and nearly robbed it. He’ll probably have a sore shoulder tomorrow.

The drama didn’t end there. Stevens reached on catcher’s interference after connecting with BT Riopelle’s glove on what should have been strike three. The training staff took a look at him and let him stay out there to close out the game. Riopelle will be lucky if he avoids any broken bones and was probably just running on adrenaline at the end there.

It can’t be said enough how important Riopelle is to the team, both from an on-the-field standpoint and as a leader. Losing him for any length of time would be detrimental to the team, but all Gator fans can do right now is hold their breath.

[autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] got his usual Sunday start despite not being listed at the start of the series. With [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] throwing a shortened complete game and Florida using up just two bullpen arms on Saturday, O’Sullivan figured he could give Caglianone a shot without worrying about a short afternoon.

Cags lasted through the third and looked decent through those innings, but the fourth was a different story and he got pulled after loading the bases without getting an out. Sully mentioned that batting in the bottom of an inning and pitching in the top can rush Caglianone, and he’s still learning to make that transition.

It’s worth discussing Fisher as the Sunday starter and moving Caglianone to a long-relief or close role for a bit. His power arm might be best served in short bursts, and there won’t be as much pressure to keep some left in the tank for a fourth or fifth inning as a reliever.

Still, splitting innings with Caglianone and Fisher isn’t a bad idea either, especially if the goal is to keep the former on a progression track as a starter. He only gave up one earned run and struck out five on Sunday, after all.

Fisher looked really comfortable, too. He didn’t have his best strikeout stuff today, but it’s good to see him pitch to contact a bit and work out of jams. Pro scouts will be happy to see it as well.

Offensively, [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] led the day with four hits, including home run No. 10 in the first. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] hit No. 25 in the fifth and [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] got No. 13 in the seventh. Florida entered the weekend with the fourth-most homers of any ball club in the country, and the power is only picking up as the season continues.

[autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag] and [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] also had multi-hit days with runs batted in. Tyler Shelnut finally cooled off with an 0-for-2 afternoon, but he still drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.

It was a good win to close out a strong weekend for Florida. Missouri isn’t close to the top of the division, but this is still the SEC and sweeps are hard to come by.

Florida travels to Jacksonville on Tuesday to go for the season sweep against Florida State in the neutral site game. Then, it’s off to College Station to face the Texas A&M Aggies.

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Florida wins high-scoring Game 2 against Missouri, Neely returns

Hurston Waldrep wasn’t his sharpest today, but the offense had his back. Plus, Brandon Neely returned to clinch the series for Florida!

It wasn’t another run-rule win for the Florida Gators on Saturday, but an 11-7 victory over the Missouri Tigers clinches the series for UF and means that the brooms could come out for a sweep on Sunday.

[autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag] got the start for the Gators and failed to put together a third-straight quality start. He gave up four runs on six hits and four walks while only striking out four, which is a season-low for Waldrep.

Kevin O’Sullivan pulled him after a walk in the fifth inning with two outs, which meant that Waldrep wouldn’t earn a decision. Instead, Ryan Slater came out and earned the win after the offense exploded for five runs in the sixth.

Florida did most of its scoring in the third and sixth inning. In fact, the Gators went down in order in four of the first five frames. [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] led the way with three hits and three runs batted in, and [autotag]Tyler Shelnut[/autotag] also had a three-RBI and three-hit day.

Shelnut has more than earned a chance as the team’s everyday right fielder with his performance in this series. Neither [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] nor [autotag]Matt Prevesk[/autotag] have been hitting the ball well, and Sully is the kind of coach that rewards guys when they step up in a critical moment.

Slater gave up a few runs in the seventh, but [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] made his return to the mound for Florida after serving a four-game suspension following an ejection against Georgia. He came in to get the last out of the inning and stayed in through the ninth.

Neely retired the first four batters he saw in a row, but trouble came in the ninth. He allowed the first two batters to reach on a single and walk but recovered to secure the win. Neely looked great, fooling the Tigers with his slider and changeup. It’s good to have him back.

This was far from Florida’s prettiest win this year, but it counts all the same in the win column. It’s still up in the air who pitches on Sunday, but the bullpen should be deep enough to give [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] another shot.

Florida goes for the sweep Sunday at noon.

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