Florida Gators take first road game of season over USF

No. 7 Florida used dominant pitching and six unanswered runs to defeat South Florida by a score of 6-1 in the first installment of a two-game midweek set on Tuesday night.
 
The pitching tandem of Cade Fisher, Ryan Slater, and Brandon Neely combined for nine quality innings on the bump, only forfeiting a lone unearned run in the first. The trio struck out 15 Bulls and walked just one batter.
 
Offensively, Jac Caglianone finished a triple shy of the cycle. Tyler Shelnut, Cade Kurland, and Wyatt Langford also swatted homers in the win.
 
The Bulls (1-3) plated one run in the first to get out to an early 1-0 lead. With runners on first and second, Marcus Brodil drove in Daniel Cantu with a double to right-center field.
 
After allowing the lone unearned run in the first, Fisher settled into a groove. Making the first start of his career, the southpaw set down three batters on strikes in the first before striking out the side in the second to finish with six strikeouts through the first two innings.
 
Following another zero from Fisher in the third, the Gators (4-0) broke into the scoring column. With a double already to his credit, Caglianone deposited the first pitch he saw in his second at bat over the center field wall for his first homer of the year.
 
Fisher churned out scoreless frames in the third and fourth to hold the score, eventually ceding duties to Slater at the onset of the fifth inning. Slater kept the momentum going on the mound, firing a shutout inning to bring up the Gator bats in the top half of the sixth.
 
Riopelle led off the sixth with a bunt single to third base, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. From there, freshman Kurland came through with a clutch RBI single to center to give Florida its first lead of the night.
 
It was all Gators from that point forward. Slater blanked the Bulls in the sixth and seventh, then Neely took over in the eighth and struck out the side to send the matchup into the final frame.
 
Holding a slim one-run advantage, Florida tacked on four insurance runs in the ninth. Shelnut and Kurland launched back-to-back home runs, with the latter recording his first-career big fly. Michael Robertson then scored on an error after swiping third base. Capping it off, Wyatt Langford hit his first home run of the year to make it 6-1 Florida.
 
Neely struck out two more batters in the bottom half to nail down his second-career save and cement the win for the Orange & Blue. He closed out the final two innings with one walk allowed and five strikeouts.
 
Slater (1-0) picked up the victory, throwing three shutout innings of relief with one hit allowed and four strikeouts.
 
In his first-career start, Fisher allowed one unearned run across four innings of work. The left-hander gave up four hits and did not issue a walk while striking out six.

Notes

• The Gators struck out 15 Bulls in Tuesday’s road win.
• Florida starters have struck out at least six batters in all four starts so far this season.
• The Gators have outscored opponents, 43 to 6, to open the campaign.
• Shelnut and Kurland connected for back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning.
  • Florida hit four home runs on Tuesday for the first time since May 19, 2022, vs. South Carolina.
  • The Gators hit three homers in the ninth inning alone.
• The Gators start 4-0 for the first time since the 2020 campaign.
• Making his collegiate debut on the mound, Fisher pitched four innings with one unearned run allowed on four hits while striking out six batters.
• The Gators improve to 64-27 all-time against the Bulls including 19-15 on the road.
  • Florida has won 26 of the last 30 against USF.
  • UF has won five of the last six road meetings