Florida Gators first baseman Jac Caglianone. [Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports]

Caglianone’s Extra-Inning Homer Surges Florida Past LSU To Even Series

Jesse Simmons March 24, 2024 Baseball, College Baseball, Feature Sports News, Gators Baseball 195 Views

In front of the second largest crowd in LSU program history of 12,892 at Alex Box Stadium, No. 5 LSU put on a laser show, but the No. 6 Florida Gators silenced the Tiger fans Saturday night thanks to a two-run home run from Jac Caglianone in the 11th inning for a 6-4 win.

Cue The Tiger Launch Pad

Freshman right-hander Liam Peterson ran his fastball up to 98 mph and worked a good breaking ball to start the game for Florida (13-9, 3-2 SEC), but three Tigers belted home runs in two innings to get Peterson off the mound and into the dugout.

Consecutive leadoff homers in the fourth and fifth from Hayden Travinski and Mac Bingham, respectively, followed by another moonshot from Jared Jones pushed LSU (19-5, 2-3) out to a 4-2 lead.

 

Peterson’s day was finished after tossing 4 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits, striking out four while walking three on 92 pitches.

Won’t Back Down

From there Peterson was picked up, as five relievers came out of the Gators’ bullpen to combine for six shutout innings.

After giving up eight hits, UF allowed just three the rest of the game.

Frank Menendez inherited two runners and escaped the inning. He faced just two more batters in the sixth before passing the ball off to another freshman in Luke McNeillie with a runner on first.

McNeillie continued his revenge tour out of the pen, with 2 1/3 innings and giving up two hits in 10 batters faced.

Grayson Smith tapped in for one batter before Brandon Neely entered in the ninth to shut down the heart of the LSU lineup, including Jones and Travinski.

Ryan Slater (2-0) finished off the rest of the Tigers, picking up the win in two innings of work in the 10th and 11th innings, surrendering a sole hit and striking out two.

Hitting Matchups

After a season-high 16 strikeouts and leaving six runners on base in a 6-1 Game 1 loss Friday, the Gators were a combined 8-for-41 at the plate (.195 avg.) Saturday, matching a season-high 16 strikeouts in two more innings and leaving 12 runners on base.

On the flip side, LSU barely edged Florida with 11 hits in 41 at bats (.268 avg.) and stranding 11 runners.

Nevertheless, the Gators’ hits came later in the game when needed most.

Early Missed Opportunities

In attempt to shake things up, coach Kevin O’Sullivan adjusted the batting order with Colby Shelton and Ty Evans at the top followed by Caglianone in the No. 3 hole.

In the first and third inning, the Gators squandered chances by stranding a runner in scoring position with less than two outs.

The fourth inning was a different story. 

LSU’s starting pitcher Gage Jump temporarily fell apart, giving up consecutive walks to Caglianone, Tyler Shelnut and Luke Heyman to load the bases with no outs for Cade Kurland. 

Kurland worked a tough at bat, grounding into a double play to bring in a run, followed by a RBI line drive to center field by Dale Thomas to give the Gators their first lead of the series, 2-1.

That Guy Ty

Florida wouldn’t strike again until the eighth inning, when Ty Evans, who was 3-for-6 with an RBI, kept his hot bat going. Evans led off with a hustle double, moving to third by Caglianone slipping a ball past a shifted Tiger defense and a two-out dropped third strike on Kurland that bounced away from the catcher to let Evans skate across the plate to pull within one at 4-3.

In the ninth, Evans clutched up again with a two-out line drive to center field that scored pinch-hitter Ashton Wilson, who had walked, to force extra innings. 

After Caglianone scorched a 116 mph two-run homer over the centerfield wall in the 11th to put the Gators up 6-4, Evans added to the show with a phenomenal grab in foul territory in the bottom of the 11th, as the Gators evened the series.

Up Next

The series finale favors the Gators statistically on the mound with Caglianone (2-0, 1.77 ERA) facing LSU’s righty Thatcher Hurd (1-2, 6.55). The decisive Game 3 is set for 3 p.m. ET on the SEC Network, ESPN 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF.

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