Tag: Jac Caglinanone

Florida baseball claims series against Cincinnati with third mercy-rule win of 2023

Florida’s Hurston Waldrep struck out a baker’s dozen on Saturday while the offense clobbered Cincinnati’s staff and invoked the mercy rule.

The Florida Gators claimed its second series win of the year on Saturday with a walk-off 13-3 victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats.

As the score might indicate, this was no typical walk-off win. Both teams agreed to play with a 10-run mercy rule before the series began, and [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] put the Gators up by the magic number with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth.

Cincinnati didn’t stand much of a chance with [autotag]Hurston Waldrep[/autotag] on the mound for Florida. The Southern Miss transfer was masterful through six innings, striking out 13 while allowing just two runs on three hits and three walks.

Everything was working for him in this one. His fastball came in strong around 95-96 mph and topped out at 98 mph. His curveball and splitter were also effective. If this is what Waldrep looks like while he’s heating up, the rest of the SEC should be fearful of him catching on fire before the start of conference play.

Cincinnati’s starter, left-handed freshman Chase Horst, was not nearly as effective. He lasted just one inning and was pulled after loading the bases for the second time in as many innings. [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] had already punished him with a grand slam in the first, and UC head coach Scott Googins wasn’t going to risk a second salami.

Dylan Brosky took over and got out of the second inning allowing just one of those three baserunners to score. He ended up lasting 4 1/3 innings for the Bearcats and should get major props from his coach for preserving the bullpen for the final game of the series. Brosky allowed four runs to score over the afternoon, but things could have been a lot worse with Horst in.

[autotag]Cade Kurland[/autotag] and [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] each had two hits and two RBIs. Langford’s came on a homer in the fourth inning that scored both men, and Kurland’s provided the eighth and ninth runs of the night for Florida in the sixth. Richie Schiekofer also drove in a run in the seventh.

[autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] pitched the seventh and eighth for Florida. He cruised through the seventh and sat the Bearcats down in order, but the eighth gave him problems. After getting the first two out of the inning quickly, Ficarrotta gave up a pair of singles and hit a batter to give up one run.

Evans came up big in the bottom of the inning to deliver the final blow, but this was an all-around strong victory for Florida. Waldrep and Ficarrotta gave the rest of the pitching staff an extra day of rest, but [autotag]Jac Caglinanone[/autotag] might not need to much help from the bullpen on Sunday if he’s anywhere near as good as he was last week.

Florida goes for the sweep against Cincinnati on Sunday at 1 p.m. EST. SEC Network+ subscribers can watch the game on ESPN+, and WRUF is broadcasting the game on the radio for free as always.

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