It hasn’t been the season Florida baseball fans were expecting or hoping for in 2024. However, the Gators looked far from a squad that hasn’t won a regular season series since March 31 in their midweek matchup against South Florida.
According to the most recent Baseball America NCAA Tournament projection, Florida is slated as a No. 3-seed. Though, coming off a brutal 16-3 throttling from Tennessee on Sunday, UF may now have to scratch and claw its way to even make an appearance in the postseason.
UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan has made it evident it’s been hard to pinpoint what exactly has gone wrong for the Gators this year. Though, one glaring issue has been clear. Florida’s inability to get solid contributions from its starting and relief pitchers.
Florida entered the matchup against the Bulls dead-last in ERA, walks and stood 13th in the SEC in runs allowed.
But the Gators bullpen put together a sensational performance capped off in the bottom of the ninth inning by junior closer Brandon Neely who retired the Bulls 1-2-3. The play brought the home crowd to a roar after securing a much-needed non-conference victory.
“I think this is kind of what we envisioned it [the pitching rotation] to look like,” O’Sullivan said. “It didn’t work out with Cade as our Friday night starter, and we made some drastic changes so all we’re trying to do right now is put everybody in a position to be successful.”
Florida (25-23, 10-14 SEC) hung on to secure a tightly contested 4-1 win over USF (23-25, 9-12 AAC) at Condron Ballpark Tuesday.
The Gators came in allowing 6.38 earned runs per game but managed to keep the Bulls’ offense in check behind a handful of bullpen outings. Freshman pitcher Liam Peterson kept USF scoreless in the first inning despite getting into an early jam while loading the bases.
Junior two-way superstar Jac Caglianone got the UF offense going in the bottom of the first with an opposite field home run on a 2-1 pitch to give Florida 1-0 edge.
Caglianone's 27th homer extended his hit-streak to 27-games, but it’s become clear throughout the season that he has failed to carry the Florida offense on his own throughout the course of a game.
Tuesday was far from an offensive explosion for UF, but another issue the Gators have faced this season is a lack of consistent contribution from the middle-to-bottom of their batting order.
This wouldn’t be an issue for Florida against the Bulls, as eight out of the nine starters in Florida’s lineup recorded a hit with three Gators turning in multi-hit performances.
One of which came from sophomore shortstop Colby Shelton who had a stellar start to the season, but he has been in a bit of a slump after having his batting average fell to .262 after the Tennessee series. In the fight against the Bulls, Shelton scored a run in the eighth inning and finished 2-4. “Everybody goes through their stretches,” O’Sullivan said. “I have the utmost confidence that when it comes to nut cracking time, he’s gonna be up in some big at bats. He’s tough. He’s everything you want from a player.”
Peterson was pulled after the first frame to ensure he would be available for Florida’s upcoming weekend series against Kentucky. Sophomore pitcher Cade Fisher took the bump in the second inning and facilitated just under three innings of solid work. Fisher allowed just one hit in nine at-bats.
UF played a small ball in the bottom of the second. Senior utility player Tyler Shelnut put down a beautiful bunt down the third base line to advance sophomore catcher Brody Donay to third base, setting up freshman outfielder Hayden Yost to drive in Donay via a sacrifice ground ball to second base.
Florida was primed to do even more damage in the third inning. With Caglianone on second base, sophomore catcher Luke Heyman smashed a line drive to USF sophomore shortstop Eric Snow who couldn’t cleanly make the play, allowing the Gators to take a 3-0 advantage in the bottom of the third inning.
Junior right-handed pitcher Fisher Jameson was next for Florida’s bullpen. He dealt two innings in which he allowed USF’s only run of the game while tallying a pair of strikeouts.
The Gators’ offense went stagnant and struggled to plate a run for the next five-straight innings.
However, the bullpen remained strong enough to keep the Bulls’ bats in check behind strong performances from freshman reliever Luke McNeillie, redshirt freshman Jake Clemente and junior closer Brandon Neely who together held USF to just one run for the rest of the matchup.
“[Neely’s] our closer when the game is on the line,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s gonna get the ball with the game on the line.”
Florida plated an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a double to right field by Shelnut that scored Shelton allowing the Gators to secure the 4-1 victory.
The Gators will stay put in Gainesville as they await a three-game series against Kentucky to close out their regular season slate. First pitch will be Friday 6:30 p.m. at Condron Ballpark.
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.
