Tag: Cade Fisher

Florida baseball handles USF with 3-homer ninth

Florida has two talented Cades on the baseball team, and both of them shined in Tuesday’s road victory over the USF Bulls.

Florida took care of business on the road for the first time in 2023 as the Gators defeated the USF Bulls Tuesday night, 6-1.

[autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag] made his first collegiate start and went four innings strong against USF. Fisher struck out the side in each of the first two innings of the night, bringing his season total to seven through five innings (12.6 K/9). He gave up four hits, one unearned run and threw 41 strikes out of 64 pitches overall. The only blemish of the night was a hit batter in the first inning.

It’s clear that Fisher is at the top of the list when it comes to freshmen pitchers on the team Kevin O’Sullivan is willing to let pitch. If he keeps pitching like this, he could find himself with a significant role on the staff after non-conference play ends.

While Fisher was good, the offense didn’t do enough early to give him a decision. [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag]’s solo home run came in the top of the fourth, but that only ensure that Fisher wouldn’t get the loss. Florida has a few chances to score in the first few innings of the game.

[autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] got caught trying to stretch a single into a double in the first, and Caglianone just missed a home run in the next at-bat. Caglianone’s double surely would have scored Langford had he not made the base-running gaffe. [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] struck out to end the inning with a runner in scoring position.

Bulls starter Jack Cebert shut Florida down in the second and third, retiring seven straight Gators in a row. Caglianone broke the shutout in the fourth, but [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] left the bases loaded to start his season off 0 for 10. The Bulls were forced to go to the bullpen though, which matched up with Fisher’s departure from the game.

Ryan Slater pitched the next three innings for the Gators and looked just as good as Fisher. He struck out four and allowed just one hit while holding the Bulls scoreless. He did it with incredible efficiency too, needing just 37 pitches to get through three frames.

Sophomore left-hander Ethan Brown was the first pitcher out of the bullpen for USF. He got through the fifth with little incident. Caglianone got hit No. 3 of the night to put him a triple away from the cycle, but he didn’t score. [autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] did get to him in the sixth for an RBI single to give Florida the lead, though. The freshman continues to make a strong argument for a daily spot in the lineup.

Speaking of freshman, [autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag] pinch hit for Halter with a lefty on the mound, meaning the junior third baseman will have to wait another game to collect his first hit of the year. [autotag]Dale Thomas[/autotag] subbed in for him to play third base for the rest of the game.

Southern Florida turned to Riley Skeen in the eighth and ninth. Florida couldn’t get to him in the eighth, but Kurland and [autotag]Tyler Shelnut[/autotag] hit back-to-back home runs to kick off what ended up being a brutal ninth. That’s Shelnut’s second in a Gators uniform and the first of Kurland’s first-career big fly.

The Bulls turned to redshirt junior Tanner Mink after Skeen got Thomas to strike out. Mink had some trouble with his pick-off move and balked before throwing the ball into centerfield on the very next attempt. Florida’s fastest player, [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag], rounded the bases with ease and scored on the error.

Finally, Langford hit his first home run of the 2023 season and officially began the chase to 27. Florida began the ninth with just a one-run lead, but South Florida needed five to tie things up by the middle of the inning.

[autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag], who came in to pitch the eighth and struck out the side, returned for the ninth after a lengthy rest on the bench. He walked a Bull to start the final frame of the night, but Neely ended up cruising to the final out of the ball game. He’s supposed to be the team’s closer, but he didn’t really need to be the one to put the lid on this one after the big inning.

The score makes this win look better than it was, but at least the bats came alive at the end. Fisher didn’t get the win, but he looked good on the bump and it’s always good to have a promising, young freshman left-hander on the staff. Kurland was the offensive MVP of the night for driving in the go-ahead run in the sixth and adding an insurance run with a solo shot in the ninth.

Up next is a rematch with USF in Gainesville on Wednesday at 6 p.m. EST.

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Series Preview: Florida set for home-and-home series with USF

Florida’s first midweek series is a home-and-home matchup with the USF Bulls. Will the Gators start 2023 off 5-0?

The Florida Gators will play a two-game series against the University of South Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday, but both games will not be at the same venue.

Tuesday’s matchup is in Tampa at USF, and Wednesday’s is in Gainesville. It’s a fun way to make a series between two schools separated by no more than two hours on I-75 unique.

The Gators are coming off a dominant performance against Charleston Southern, but the Bulls should provide a bit more of a challenge. Still, USF was picked by D1Baseball.com to finish seventh in the American Athletic Conference, so it’s not like facing an East Carolina or UCF.

The Wednesday arms are still to be decided, but Florida will throw freshman left-hander [autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag] on Tuesday. [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag], who was expected to compete for a spot in the starting rotation, is taking over the closer role, so young players like Fisher will have a chance early.

Offensively, the Gators are simply looking to keep hitting after outscoring the Buccaneers 37-5 and invoking the mercy rule twice over the weekend. Right fielder [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] led the team with a .500 batting average and 10 RBIs in the Charleston Southern series, and several other Gators collected multiple hits as well.

Third baseman [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] is still looking for his first hit. He should be in the lineup Tuesday with USF throwing a right-hander, so he’ll get a few chances to break the seal and get the season going. Wyatt Langford is always a name to look out for, but he might be a bit angry after going 0-for-4 on Sunday.

USF shouldn’t be taken too lightly. The Bulls beat No. 13 Maryland to start the season but lost the next two games of the series. There are a few dangerous bats on the team, so Florida needs to take its opponent seriously to enter the second weekend of the season undefeated.

5 major takeaways from Florida’s opening-series sweep over Charleston Southern

We learned a lot about the 2023 Florida baseball team over the weekend, and the good news is they might be even better than we thought before the season started.

Florida baseball began its season the right way over the weekend with a sweep of Charleston Southern that saw the Gators outscore the Buccaneers 37-5 over three games.

Things could have been even more one-sided, too. Both programs agreed to a 10-run mercy rule for the series, and Florida ended each of the first two games by the seventh. The Gators threatened a third-straight mercy-rule win on Sunday, but only scored eight runs and played the first nine-inning game of the season.

It’s too early to declare the team Omaha-bound, but Florida looked strong in every phase of the game through the first weekend of the season. That said, there’s an entire season left to play and the players have to endure a tough SEC schedule before getting to the postseason. Things could look very different in just a few weeks.

But right now, Florida looks just as good as advertised and there aren’t many negatives to take away from opening weekend.

2023 Baseball Season Preview: Bullpen

Florida didn’t lose a ton from last year’s bullpen, so the experience should help a good group become great in 2023.

With one day left until the start of the 2023 college baseball season, Gators Wire is looking at Florida’s bullpen.

The first thing that stands out is just how much depth there is separate from [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag]’s starting rotation. The team is returning seven contributing arms from a season ago and has added one key transfer and four freshmen to the ‘pen.

In a big game, it’s fairly clear who would pitch the seventh, eighth and ninth innings for Florida, and there are plenty of options that can go long if a starter has to leave a game early. Florida’s only losing about 20 innings out of last year’s bullpen, so fans should see a considerable amount of growth from the sophomore class.

Leading the way statistically are [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] and [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag]. Junior college transfer [autotag]Clete Hartzog[/autotag] is in line to step into the closing role, at least to begin the season, and there’s a handful of second and third-year guys ready to eat innings.

This should be an efficient group for Florida, but the top of the bullpen is a lot stronger than the middle and bottom.

2023 Baseball Season Preview: Starting Pitchers

The Gators have an elite 1-2 punch at the top of the order, but there are some questions about how the rest of the rotation will play out with so much depth on the team.

Gators Wire is breaking up the pitching preview for Florida’s 2023 baseball season into two parts. The first will cover starters and potential starters for the team, and the second will discuss those who are primed to come out of the bullpen.

As usual, Florida has a fairly strong group of arms on the mound to lean on this year. Getting [autotag]Brandon Sproat[/autotag] back was massive for the program, and Hurston Waldrep transferring in gives Florida a pair of potential first-rounders at the top of the weekend rotation.

Things are less clear after those two, though. Florida’s would-be Sunday guy is stealing on the road back from back surgery, and there could be some early competition for that spot. Of course, Florida has plenty of four-game and five-game weeks in the early season, so some more depth will be needed.

The freshman class has some talent that could be used early, and the fans will always want to see [autotag]Carsten Finnvold[/autotag] on the mound after his legendary performance in the NCAA Tournament last year.