The Florida Gators baseball team had its backs against the walls heading into a Sunday rubber match against the Saint Mary’s Gaels.
It hasn’t been the start to the season that Florida fans were hoping for, but senior catcher Tanner Garrison stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning with a chance to deliver the series-clinching base hit.
With the bases loaded, he stroked a fastball on a 1-0 count to left field, scoring sophomore shortstop Colby Shelton and ending the game on a mercy rule.
Florida (9-4) dominated Saint Mary’s (8-5) 10-0 at Condron Ballpark, Sunday.
“We’ve been through 15 games, it hasn’t been pretty at times,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “But I feel we have a much better feel for our team before we head into SEC play.”
The bats were quiet in the first inning for Florida. Largely in part due to the strong start from Saint Mary’s sophomore pitcher Jason Reitz. The right-handed starter struck out the side in the bottom of the first inning.
Junior SEC Preseason Player of the Year Jac Caglianone made his own statement on the bump to keep the Gaels offense in check while putting together an outstanding performance.
Caglianone struck out nine hitters in six scoreless innings of work. The two-way star walked four batters but never allowed the Gaels to cross home plate while playing a major role in the Gators earning the series victory.
“Once again, his slider and changeup were really good today,” O’Sullivan said. “Somebody said that in any one inning, there wasn’t any more than four guys coming to the plate.”
Caglianone has been known for his long-distance home runs throughout his collegiate career. However, it was a slow dribbler to third base that he beat out for a single which loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Sophomore first baseman Luke Heyman then stepped to the plate and extended his hitting streak to five games after delivering a two-run single to center field to extend the Florida lead to 4-0.
The Gators had a chance to break the game open in the bottom of the fifth inning when they loaded the bases. But Florida would only come away with one run after Garrison grounded into a double play.
O’Sullivan didn’t shy away from showing high praise for the Coastal Carolina transfer after the victory.
“He was really good today,” O’Sullivan said. “Threw out two base runners, he had a hit and run and there’s a reason why we have him catch Jac.”
Caglianone was dealing with a no-hitter but seemed to be running out of gas in the top of the sixth inning.
Back-to-back walks forced UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan to go to the bullpen as the starting southpaw received a standing ovation from the home crowd when he came off the mound.
“He had some walks today but they were good misses,” O’Sullivan said. “He was good today, for sure.”
It was a balanced offensive attack for Florida in the series finale. All nine of UF’s starters recorded a hit with four of them posting at least one RBI. Leading the way was sophomore Ty Evans and senior Tyler Shelnut.
The duo combined for four hits and three RBI, and added some insurance runs for Florida in the seventh inning. Evans doubled down the left field line which set up a two-run bomb to right-center field by Shelnut.
The Gators’ bullpen has been an issue this year for Florida this season.
“The elephant in the room is obviously on the mound,” Caglianone said. “I think these freshman pitchers are gonna work their tails off and they’re gonna get to the point where they need to be at.”
However, they’ve received consistent contributions from redshirt junior reliever Ryan Slater. The right-hander had appeared in seven games this season prior to Sunday, boasting an impressive 2.12 ERA.
Slater had yet another solid outing. He dealt two scoreless innings in relief of Caglianone, allowing two hits and no runs.
When UF returned to hit for the bottom of the eighth inning. Heyman and Shelton kickstarted the inning with back-to-back base hits before Garrison delivered the game-winning knock to left field.
Next, Florida will host rival Florida State in a midweek matchup on Tuesday. First pitch will be at 6 p.m. at Condron Ballpark.
“FSU is just going to be great preparation for next weekend,” Caglianone said. “I feel like if we swing the bats the way we did today and the pitching staff can limit runs, I think we’ll be just fine.”
Contact Max at mtucker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @Max_Tuckr1.
Max Tucker is a junior transfer student at UF. After obtaining his A.A. in Journalism from Santa Fe College in 2023, he chose further his education at Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. Max is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a specialization in sports and media. He enjoys golfing and going to the beach with his friends in his free time. Max will be covering the Gators Golf teams this Fall for The Alligator.
