Florida 15, Kentucky 4
WHAT HAPPENED: Florida had no trouble waking up for Wednesday morning’s playoff game against SEC rival Kentucky in the College World Series. The Gators scored seven runs in the first inning before crushing the Wildcats 15-4. Florida hunts British holder Dominique Niman six batters in the game. Florida’s No. 8 batter, designated hitter Brody Donay, went 3-for-5 with two homers and five RBIs to lead the offensive explosion. The seven-run opener is the second-most runs the Gators have scored in a CWS inning, trailing only an 11-run inning against Miami in 2015.
PLAY OF THE GAME: With the Gators leading 3-1, and after Dale Thomas welcomed Kentucky reliever Cameron O’Brien With a single to load the bases late in the first, Donay launched a deep strike over the right field wall for a grand slam and a 7-1 Florida lead. Donay’s explosion gave the Gators a huge dose of early momentum, and they never slowed down to improve to 8-2 in the NCAA Tournament.
KEY MOMENT: Florida had a comfortable 10-point lead late in the sixth when Jac Caglianone came to bat with two outs and no one out. Facing the Wildcats bullpen Johnny Hummel, Caglianone smashed Hummel’s full throw into the right field seats for his 35th home run of the season. But that’s not what the former Gators slugger thought Matt LaPorta standing and cheering from his seat at Charles Schwab Field. The solo home run was Caglianone’s 75th career home run, breaking a tie with LaPorta to become the program’s all-time home run king. LaPorta held the title since ending his Gators career in 2007 with 74 career home runs.
IN THE HONOR: Left-handed Pierce Coppola made his first career start in the CWS and delivered exactly what the Gators needed. Coppola earned his first career victory by limiting the Wildcats to a career-high four hits and four runs in five innings. Coppola walked three and struck out a career-high nine in his 98-pitch outing.
AMAZING STATUS: Caglianone reached base in 12 of 15 plate appearances at CWS. He walked three times, was intentionally walked three times, hit two home runs, a pair of singles and a double. He was also hit by a pitch. Caglianone reached base in each of his five trips to the plate Wednesday.
IN NUMBERS: 102 — Success this season for Caglianone, equalizing David Eckstein for fourth place on the program’s single-season list. 20 — “Gators will get on base against Wildcats”. 51 — Consecutive games Caglianone reached base safely.
HE SAID IT : “Obviously we got off to a fast start. We put together a bunch of good at-bats in the first. I thought it was the best Pierce had thrown all year. His stuff looked really sharp. We “We look forward to the opportunity to play Texas A&M again.” — Gators head coach Kevin O’Sullivan on Wednesday’s victory
HE SAID IT : “I just tried to get started earlier, and a great thing happened.” — Alligators DH Brody Donay on his grand slam
FOLLOWING: Florida faces SEC rival Texas A&M in another playoff game on Wednesday around 8 p.m. ET. The Aggies beat the Gators 5-4 Saturday night/Sunday morning.
NOTABLES
- The Gators reached the College World Series semifinals for the second straight season.
- Florida is appearing in the College World Series for the 14th time in program history and the ninth time under head coach John C. Kevin O’Sullivan.
- O’Sullivan has led the Gators to Omaha on nine of 14 trips to the CWS.
- The Gators have now won nine of their last 10 NCAA Tournament playoff games dating back to last season (5-0 in 2024).
- Florida won its 21st come-from-behind game of the campaign and its sixth comeback victory in the postseason.
- Jac Caglianone hit his 75th career home run to tie for eighth all-time in NCAA home runs and tied for third in SEC history.
- Caglianone hit safely in 61 of 65 games while reaching safely in all but one game.
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- Caglianone is 14-for-32 with six homers, four doubles, 15 runs, 14 RBIs, 17 walks and five strikeouts in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
- He owns nine hits and four home runs all-time in the College World Series.
- Caglianone walked three times in the win over Kentucky.
- Caglianone is 14-for-32 with six homers, four doubles, 15 runs, 14 RBIs, 17 walks and five strikeouts in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
- Caglianone was intentionally walked once to bring his season total to 31 on Wednesday.
- Florida struck out and scored seven runs on five hits in the first inning.
- The Gators scored their second-most runs in a single inning at the CWS – since scoring 11 against Miami in the fourth on June 13, 2015.
- Florida became the eighth team in CWS history to score at least seven runs in the first inning.
- Pierce Coppola‘s start is the third-longest by a Gators starting pitcher in the postseason.
- Brody Donay hit his 13th and 14th home runs, marking his second multi-homer game of the season while his five RBIs marked a new Gators career high.
- Donay’s performance was the 14th multi-homer game by a Gator this season.
- Luc Heyman hit two runs home in the first and doubled home one in the fifth to finish 3 for 5 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored.
- Tyler Shelnut recorded a 10-game hitting streak with an RBI single in the fifth inning.
- Heyman struck out his third runner of the NCAA Tournament and his 11th of the season in the top of the first inning.
- He is the second Florida backstop to catch a baserunner in the 2024 CWS, joining Brody Donay against NC State.
- Jake Clemente And Alex Philpott both pitched two shutout innings of relief, the latter retiring all six batters he faced.
- Colby Shelton collected the first CWS hit of his college career, an RBI double in the bottom of the first, while finishing 2 for 4 with two runs.
- Florida’s streak of 144 consecutive games is the third longest in program history (May 27, 2022 to present).
- The Gators are 137-87 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- Florida is 27-27 in the College World Series.
- Florida is now 151-74-1 against Kentucky (7-3 neutral).
- The Gators are 29-23 against the Wildcats under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan (3-1 neutral)
- Florida is 1-0 against Kentucky in the College World Series.
- Wednesday’s official attendance was 23,687 people.
—Sullivan Bortner contributed to this report.