Final: Gators 17, FAMU 7 (7 Innings)
Florida DH/1B/LHP Jac Caglianone continued to add to his candidacy for the nation’s top honor, the Golden Spikes, with his performance Tuesday.
Caglianone got the scoring started with his first at-bat as he hit a sacrifice fly to center that plated the Gators’ first run of the night.
An inning later, Caglianone crushed an 0-1 pitch that might still be in orbit. The homer was his nation-leading twenty-second of the year through 38 games.
Jac Caglianone has Homered in more than half of his games this year
— Barstool Baseball (@StoolBaseball) April 18, 2023
What a beast @UFBarstool pic.twitter.com/y3knFqsyit
For good measure, Caglianone added a double in the third inning that put a pair of runners in scoring position. Both runners would score in the third as Florida jumped out to a 13-2 lead through three innings.
Florida started little used infielders Dale Thomas and Deric Fabian for the matchup and they didn’t disappoint. Fabian smashed a blast to the berm and finished the day 1-3 with a walk and two runs scored. Thomas added an RBI double to the statline, as well.
Armed with a large lead, Florida was able to get more work out of younger, inexperienced players. Wyatt Langford was replaced after a 2-2 start to the game and catcher Rene Lastres saw time behind the plate, until suffering an injury to the groin.
Freshman Luke Heyman finished the night 2-2 with four RBI, thanks largely to three sacrifice flies and a solo homer of his own.
Freshman Yoel Tejeda, Jr. (1-0) got the start for Florida and threw four innings. Fisher Jameson, Blake Purnell, and Clete Hartzog also saw action on the mound. Hartzog threw a perfect inning in the top of the seventh to preserve the run-rule victory. Since he has pitched more than half of the game. Tejeda was awarded with his first collegiate win.
Florida improved to 31-7 overall while the Rattlers are now 18-18 on the season.
The Gators will bus to Columbia, SC Wednesday morning as they prepare for a Thursday-Friday-Saturday series against the nation’s No. 6 ranked team, South Carolina.