What bullpen problems? Gators throw gem against FAU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The point had been bemoaned all season. While the Florida Gators have been on a historic pace offensively they needed to because the bullpen had been shaky at best. Wednesday night two pitchers combined to throw a two-hit shutout of a potent FAU lineup and emerge as potential go-to guys out of the bullpen when SEC play begins.

Tyler Nesbitt earned his first start of the season. The redshirt sophomore has had a long road back since Tommy John surgery ended his 2021 season before it began but he was back in form Wednesday. Nesbitt retired the first two batters he faced before surrendering back-to-back two-out singles. He would go on to strike out the side in the second and retire 13 of the next 14 he faced with the only Owl reaching base via an error.

“I thought he was really good. It was important for us to get through the first inning and we got through that. We knew he would throw strikes and he had the ability to slow the ball down to those left-handed hitters. I thought he did an outstanding job,” Kevin O’Sullivan said. “The second time through the order, he started throwing his fastball in on the right-handers and the left-handers and got them off his off-speed. He was really good.”

Lefty Philip Abner would relieve Nesbitt and pick right up where he left off. Abner earned a save while striking out one and walking one over three scoreless innings.

Gators offense keeps rolling

A pitching duel would end in the third inning when Jac Caglianone legged out an infield single with the bases loaded. Florida tacked on three more runs in the fourth. Colby Halter singled home Michael Robertson with Luke Heyman also crossing home as a result of a throwing error in right field. Halter advanced all the way to third on the play and later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Cade Kurland.

UF struck for three more runs in the fifth inning. BT Riopelle kept the bats hot in the inning to follow, doubling off the left-field wall to bring home Josh Rivera and Caglianone. Riopelle then crossed home on a double-steal play, pushing the lead to 7-0.

Caglianone called game with a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth, which pushed the score to 11-0, enacting the run rule that was agreed upon before the series.

Notes

• Florida’s 11-0 shutout of FAU marked the team’s second shutout of the season (Feb. 19 vs. CSU, 8-0) and the first against FAU since June 6, 2010 (15-0).
• The Gators have now won five games via the 10-run rule this season including three after eight innings.
• Caglianone’s game-ending grand slam marked his 11th home run of the season, which is tied for the NCAA lead.
  • Caglianone finished with a career-high four hits, going 4-for-5 with one home run, two doubles, five RBI and two runs.
• Nesbitt blanked the Owls across five innings in his first start of 2023, retiring 11 batters from the first until the fifth.
  • The final 14 batters went 0-for-14 against Nesbitt.
  • Nesbitt set a career high with five innings pitched while tying his personal best of six strikeouts.
• Abner pitched a career-high three innings and did not allow a hit or a run, earning the first save of his career.
• Florida continued its streak of scoring six-plus runs in every game this season.
  • Florida and Wake Forest are the only teams to have done so in every game in 2023.
• Rivera and Langford extended their team-leading reached base streaks to 15 games apiece, as the duo has reached safely in every game so far this season.
  • Three other Gators also have double-digit reached base streaks: Kurland (13), Caglianone (13) and Robertson (12).
• Florida has struck out 170 batters in 128 innings – translating to 12.0 per nine innings.
• Through 15 games, Florida has a run differential of plus-93.
  • The Gators have scored in 72 of 122 batted innings this season (59.0%).
• For the 13th time in 15 games this year, the Gators recorded double-digit hits.
• The Gators have a nation-leading 186 hits through 15 games (12.4 hits/game).