Jac Caglianone was on the hook for his first pitching loss of the season. He remedied the situation at the plate in the most “Jactani” way possible.

Caglianone was on the mound as Florida’s starting pitcher on Sunday against Mississippi State. He went 5.2 innings, allowing 3 earned runs on 3 hits and 4 walks with 5 strikeouts over 80 pitches.

While the outing raised Caglianone’s ERA from 1.65 to 2.18, it will play most Sundays in the SEC. This Sunday, however, it did not look like it was going to be enough.

The Gators trailed 3-2 entering their final at-bat of the series’ rubber game.

It had been a rollercoaster series for both sides. UF won in walk-off fashion Friday night and MSU took out its frustrations with a 12-2 thumping on Sunday.

The Bulldogs took a 3-1 lead in the top of the 6th inning. The Gators got 1 back, but trailed 3-2 entering the bottom of the 9th.

Ty Evans was first up for Florida’s final at-bat. He was hit by a pitch, putting the tying run at the 1st base.

Caglianone came to the plate as the winning run, and decided to end it there. On a 1-2 pitch, Caglianone took MSU’s Evan Siary to deep right field, walking it off for the Gators.

Caglianone a constant as inconsistent Gators build unique 2024 resume

In the SEC East, only Florida (16-11) and below-.500 Mizzou (10-18) have double-digit losses through the first two months of the 2024 college baseball season.

The same Gators are tied for second place in the division with a 6-3 record in conference play. Florida has won all 3 of its SEC series. No sweeps yet, but consistently winning 2-of-3 will keep Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad in the SEC title hunt.

UF has had a rough nonconference schedule, with losses to St. John’s, Stetson, Miami, UCF, Saint Mary’s, Jacksonville and Florida State (twice).

While preseason expectations were high for last year’s College World Series runner-up returning a Golden Spikes finalist (Caglianone), O’Sullivan has made clear that the only way to figure out his young pitching staff is by throwing them in live game action, which has produced mixed results.

Caglianone has been a constant. After Sunday’s start, he has a 2.18 ERA over 33 IP with a 44-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio. At the plate, Cags has a triple slash of .331/.473/.752.

Caglianone’s slugging percentage of .752 is at a career high. After walking 17 times in 2023, Caglianone has already drawn 16 free passes. Sunday’s series-winning walk-off was home run No. 13 of the season.

With Caglianone swinging the bat every day and taking the mound every Sunday, the Gators have a chance in every SEC series. Even if they continue to stumble through the midweek slate.

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