Tag: Jac Cagilanone

Series Preview: No. 6 Florida set for big weekend against No. 22 Miami

No. 6 Florida will host No. 22 Miami over the weekend in what will be the Gators’ first real test of the 2023 season.

Florida swept each of its first two weekend series of the season against Charleston Southern and Cincinnati, but now the Gators face a major test as the No. 22 Miami Hurricanes come into town.

Miami is 7-2 on the season with losses to Penn State and FAU, while Florida is 8-2 with losses to Jacksonville and USF. Both teams have a strong weekend rotation but Miami’s bullpen might be stronger right now. Florida has scored 40 more runs in just five more innings of action, though.

The annual series is always filled with emotions. Plenty of the state’s top prep players pick between the two (and Florida State) and are familiar with each other, so it’s fun for everyone involved. Florida took two of three last year in Miami, and the Gators enter the matchup ranked a good bit higher than the Hurricanes at No. 6 in the country.

A sweep of Miami would almost guarantee a bump up into the top five, but Kevin O’Sullivan would probably settle for taking the series. It will be the first real challenge for his team this year, but the expectation is that Florida will handle its in-state rival at home.

Key takeaways after Florida baseball splits series with Jacksonville

Florida can’t seem to figure out the winning formula on Wednesdays, but the Gators are still off to a hot start in 2023.

Florida failed to put together a perfect week once again and split a midweek home-and-home series against the Jacksonville Dolphins on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It took Florida until the fourth inning to get things going against Jacksonville on the road Tuesday, but the Gators ended up scoring in each of the final six innings of the ball game to beat the Dolphins, 18-8.

Wednesday was a different story. Florida jumped out to an early 2-0 lead through two innings at home, but Jacksonville fought back after the Gators turned to the bullpen. A six-run sixth inning for the Dolphins proved to be enough and Florida fell, 10-8, to split the series.

Once again, pitching depth appeared to be an issue for Florida during the second midweek game of the week. Kevin O’Sullivan is still searching for the right mix of arms to last through the week without taxing any one particular pitcher too much early on.

An 8-2 start is far from a disaster, though. Florida looks like it could have a special team this season, but pitching depth could be an Achilles’ heel throughout the year.

Here’s what we learned from Florida’s series with Jacksonville.

Key takeaways from Florida’s series sweep of Cincinnati

Florida baseball is off to a hot start and is now 7-1 after a series sweep of Cincinnati. Here’s what we learned over the weekend:

Florida swept the Cincinnati Bearcats over the weekend to bring the Gators to a 7-1 record to start the season.

After splitting a home-and-home series with the USF bulls over the week, Florida needed to bounce back in a big way. It did so to the tune of 13 runs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, while allowing Cincinnati to put up a combined 16 runs. It’s the second-straight weekend in a row that Florida has doubled its opponents, and the team looks pretty unstoppable out of the gate.

The weekend rotation is elite and needs significantly less help from the bullpen than the midweek starters. At the plate, everyone is hitting, and a new school record for home runs in a game being set on Sunday proves that this team has legitimate power.

It’s hard to find something wrong with this Gators team right now. The club will eventually face some true adversity, but this is a group that’s firing on all cylinders.

Florida baseball hits walk-off HR versus No. 20 Florida State

Florida baseball’s Sterlin Thompson hit a walk-off, two-run bomb to give his team the 7-5 victory over Florida State on Tuesday.

Florida baseball second baseman [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] entered his at-bat in the bottom of the ninth in a tied ballgame versus No. 20 Florida State 0-for-2 with a walk. With left fielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] on second as the go-ahead runner, he took the first two pitches for a ball and a strike.

Then the Seminoles reliever Andrew Armstrong then lofted a fastball over the heart of the plate. Thompson kept his eyes locked on the baseball and launched the pitch into orbit where it eventually landed in the left-field berm. The walk-off bomb gave the Gators the 7-5 victory against Florida State on Tuesday at Condron Ballpark.

Langford kept raking as he has through most of SEC play. He hit a solo shot to lead off the game and did it again in the third inning.

FSU responded in the top of the second with three runs off of Florida starter [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] via a two-run shot and an RBI double.

Just like a seesaw, the momentum then shifted back and forth. It tilted toward the Gators in the bottom of the third as they scored four runs to take the lead back at 5-3. Then it went back to the Seminoles in the fourth when they tied the game.

The game became a pitcher’s duel from the fifth inning on between Florida’s [autotag]Tyler Nesbitt[/autotag] and Florida State’s Jonah Scolaro. Nesbitt went 3 1/3 innings, allowing only one hit that came at the start of the ninth. Scolaro tossed 4 1/3 innings, giving up two hits, a walk and an earned run.

Langford then singled in the ninth, which was then followed by Thompson’s walk-off home run to give the Gators the game and series victory. Langford finished the evening three for five with two homers and two RBIs. Thompson and designated hitter [autotag]Jac Cagilanone[/autotag] also recorded two hits.

Florida will stay at home this weekend as it will face South Carolina in the regular-season finale. The first game of the series is Thursday at 7 p.m. and can be seen on SEC Network+.

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Nick Pogue, Khris Armstrong, Joshua Rivera lift Gators over Mizzou to take series

Starter Nick Pogue and batters Khris Armstrong and Joshua Rivera lifted Florida baseball to a 4-3 victory over Missouri on Sunday.

Starter [autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag], first baseman [autotag]Khris Armstrong[/autotag] and shortstop [autotag]Joshua Rivera[/autotag] lifted Florida baseball to a 4-3 game and series victory over the Missouri Tigers on Sunday in Columbia, Missouri. Pogue quieted the Tigers’ offense for 6 2/3 innings while only allowing five hits and three earned runs. Armstrong went 3-for-4 with two RBIs while Rivera finished 1-for-4 with a two-run home run.

After three scoreless innings, Missouri struck first in the bottom of the fourth via back-to-back jacks from third baseman Luke Mann and left fielder Trevor Austin.

The Gators responded quickly in the top of the fifth via Rivera’s two-run blast to left field. They then grabbed the lead 4-2  in the next inning when Armstrong singled with the bases loaded, driving in designated hitter [autotag]Jac Cagilanone[/autotag] and second baseman [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag].

The Tigers earned a run back in the bottom of the seventh when their right fielder Ross Lovich singled with runners on first and second, which also signaled the end of Pogue’s outing. Head coach [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] called on reliever [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] who got the final out of the inning to end the threat.

Florida would hang on in the eighth and ninth innings to secure the 4-3 victory and grab the last contest of the weekend for the series win.

The Gators head into the final week of their regular season and are back in action on Tuesday at Condron Ballpark versus No. 21 Florida State.

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