Florida Gators reset, hand Texas A&M Aggies first loss of the season

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Coming off of a tough midweek loss to Florida State and sitting on a 10-6 record, the message to the Florida Gators baseball team was to reset. With No. 4 Texas A&M coming into town to start the season after a forgettable month, the start of the SEC season was the perfect time to hit the reset button, which Florida was able to do with an 8-6 win on Friday night.

Through two innings, however, the reset button looked jammed. Friday night starter Cade Fisher had set down the Aggies in order in the top of the first. His offense quickly gave him two runs with a Jac Caglianone solo home run and a Ty Evans RBI single. Fisher, however, struggled in the top of the second.

He plunked Hayden Schott and then walked Ted Burton. Two singles, a fielder’s choice and a home run later the two-run lead was gone and Florida now faced a 5-2 deficit. To his credit, Fisher settled into the game. The sophomore would throw a career-high 109 pitches over six innings, allowing six runs but kept the Gators in the game.

“The thought process was, I already gave up five runs, it can’t get much worse,” Fisher said after the game. “Just go out there and compete, attack each hitter. First pitch strike and try to limit the damage and keep my team in there as long as I can and go as long as I can in the game.”

Florida’s bats went to work in the third frame. Caglianone hit his second solo home run of the game. Luke Heyman then drew a walk followed by a Colby Shelton single to right, allowing Shelnut to unload on a three-run, go-ahead homer to deep left-center for a 6-5 Gators lead.
 
The Aggies evened it up at 6-6 in the fourth. Leading off the inning, Jackson Appell cranked a home run to left-center. Fisher rebounded in the fifth, stranding one runner on third to hold the score. The southpaw returned to the hill in the sixth and fired another scoreless frame while tying his career high with 10 strikeouts.

Brandon Neely came on in the seventh inning and completed a nine out save. When asked after the game why he went to Neely so early, Kevin O’Sullivan was direct and blunt.

“I’m tired of losing, honestly,” he said. “We’ve got arguably our best arm, we have not been able to use him as much as we’ve needed to. There’s nothing worse than losing a game in a tight game and you’re sitting over there, you make one mistake. For me, at this point, what’s the difference for the seventh, eighth and ninth versus the eighth and ninth if Brandon Neely gives you the best opportunity to win.”

Notes

• Friday night’s official attendance was 5,863.
• The Gators hammered five home runs in a game for the second time this season (March 3 at Miami).
• Caglianone connected for his sixth home run in the first inning and his seventh in the third for his first multi-homer game of the season.
  • Caglianone’s first homer broke Prager’s 24-innings scoreless streak to open the season.
• Shelnut hit his sixth homer of the season – a go-ahead, three-run blast in the third inning.
• Kurland smacked his fourth run of the season to give Florida a 7-6 lead in the sixth.
• Shelton hit his team-leading 10th homer in the seventh inning.
  • Shelnut and Shelton both homered for the fourth game this season.
  • Shelton has launched seven homers in the last seven games.
• Evans has collected multiple hits in six of the last seven games including five straight.
• Across his last four starts, Fisher has recorded 33 strikeouts against three walks.
  • Fisher tied his career high (Feb. 23 vs. Columbia) with 10 strikeouts.
• Heyman and Shelton moved their on-base streaks to 17-straight contests.
• Florida is now 13-15 all-time vs. Texas A&M including 8-3 in Gainesville.
  • The Gators are 12-9 against the Aggies under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan (7-0 at home), having won six of the last nine meetings.
  • Florida has won seven-straight games vs. Texas A&M at home.
• The Gators are 29-6 in home series since 2023.
  • Florida is 44-11 at home since the start of last season.
• The Gators are 39-13 in weekend series since the start of last season and 48-16 across the team’s previous 22 series at any venue.
• Since Florida’s last home series lost vs. Tennessee from April 22-24, 2022, the Gators have gone 38-16 vs. SEC opponents featuring a 30-13 regular-season mark.

What’s next for the Florida Gators

The No. 8 Gators will look to take the series over No. 4 Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on SECNetwork+.