Live Look: Florida vs. Georgia
by Gabriela Vitale
The Florida Gators Baseball team is looking to rewrite their run from the college world series last year after falling to LSU in the finals. After losing their spotlight names to the MLB draft in Wyatt Langford, Josh Rivera, Hurston Waldrep and Brandon Sproat, they’ll use fresh and familiar faces to hopefully leave another mark in Omaha.
Georgia however is turning over a brand new script as they welcome head coach Wes Johnson into Athens for his first year. The Bulldogs finished 29-27 last year and missed the postseason as they didn’t make a regional. But Johnson has an experienced and older team on his hands at UGA who have the ability to make some noise in the SEC, especially with the return of star slugger Charlie Condon.
Florida’s Pitching Staff
Luckily for the Gators, they still have the biggest name in college baseball on their side and that’s two-way star Jac Caglianone. He started on the mound for Florida, tossing a perfect inning with two strikeouts in his lone frame of work. 10-of-14 pitches he threw were for strikes. Caglianone did some refining to his delivery in the offseason, it’s more compact with a higher release point. This has added more vertical break to his pitches and having a shorter elbow spiral could help his control, something he was struggling with at the backend of last season.
Brandon Neely took over the mound in the second and struggled in his frame. He fell into a few three ball counts and wasn’t able to locate his mix. He walked Kolby Branch, gave up an RBI single to Josh Stinson and UGA was up 2-0 on a passed ball that got by Luke Heyman. Neely flashes a five pitch mix with a fastball, slider, cutter, changeup and a curveball. His FB was touching 93 and sitting in the low 90’s during his outing. Although he was Florida’s closer last season, I wouldn't be surprised if he slides back into the rotation this year just like he was in 2022.
Florida sent out five true freshmen to the mound for an inning of work. Among them were Luke McNillie, Liam Peterson, Frank Menendez, Robert Satin and Christian Rodriguez. Peterson is no doubt one of the most electric arm’s of the freshman class. He struck out two in his one inning frame and his fastball was up to 96, though I’ve seen him touch 98 and there’s more room in the tank to come with development. He has a three pitch mix and flashes a fourth with a changeup, although he only threw fastball-curveball on Friday.
McNillie struck out one and walked one in his inning. Menendez struck out one and Satin struck out two in their frames. Rodriguez wasn’t able to record an out in the eighth as he walked two and gave up three earned runs on one hit.
Another candidate who should see a spot in the weekend rotation is sophomore Cade Fisher. He threw an 11 pitch inning, striking out one. He’s the epitome of a pitcher who commands the strike zone, working around the corners to both right and left handed hitters. It’s a fastball, slider, changeup mix that comes from a lower left handed slot.
Ryan Slater and Blake Purnell finished the last three innings on the mound. Slater struck out two while Purnell struck out one. Slater is a senior who could be used in a long reliever role, or possibly start midweeks with the experience he brings.
Georgia’s Pitching Staff
The Bulldogs went with Leighton Finley to start the game. Finley has the chance to lead this Georgia staff after starting just one game last season. He’s coming off a stellar summer ball season where he played on Cape Cod and posted a 0.00 ERA through 17.1 innings, striking out 20 and walking five. His fastball works in the mid 90’s with a hammer curveball, also flashing a slider and a changeup.
Georgia has a very experienced staff to work with this season. Unlike Florida’s game plan, the Bulldogs rolled out six upperclassmen and three sophomores after the first inning. Brian Zeldin (Penn transfer) and Daniel Padysak (Charleston Southern) all tossed zeros in their outing with a strikeout a piece.
The first Bulldog pitcher to run into some struggle was graduate transfer Collin Cladwell. He gave up a two run double from Tyler Shetlnut that plated a pair to tie the game. He couldn't finish the inning and senior Brandt Pancer came in.
Graduate transfer Josh Roberge is one of the most experienced among the transfers. He started the past two years at Southern New Hampshire, going 9-5 in 2022 and 7-4 in 2023. Roberge offers a fastball in the low 90s, a slider and flashes a changeup to both righties and lefties. He struck out three across 1.2 innings against the Gators, but gave up a pair of walks and runs that extended Florida’s lead.
Bulldog fans shouldn't lose sight of its talented sophomores in the bunch of upperclassmen this staff has added. Other than Finley, Zachary Harris and Kolten Smith saw time on the mound and threw zeros in their respective innings.
Harris, a transfer from Georgia Southern, showcases a fastball-slider combo, though he has a changeup it doesn't seem like he had much feel for it. His fastball gets up to 93 with a ~85 mph slider. He surrendered a hit and struck out one in his outing.
I was impressed with Smith’s stuff and if he can continue throwing strikes like he did over the summer in the northwoods league, he’ll be a key contributor on the mound. He showed development even in his one short inning, throwing 18-for-20 pitches for strikes. He has a legit three pitch mix in his fastball, curveball and slider. His fastball sits in the low 90s, but it got hit quite well last year. After seeing his strike percentage rise from his freshman year to over the summer, I'd like to see him gain feel for his breaking pitches again. It’s all about trusting his secondary stuff more, he has the ability to throw three quality pitchess off his fastball.
Senior Tyler McLoughlin struck out three in the final inning, surrendering one walk.
Florida’s Lineup
Florida had eight hits in the game and almost half of them were accompanied by Caglianone. It’s going to be a powerful lineup for the Gators, but with that comes a lot of individual development in its players to improve their miss/chase numbers.
What Caglinaone does best is hit on days he pitches, and he did just that as he went 3-3 with a walk, two runs and an RBI.
Colby Shelton and Brody Donay are among the transfers who could have a huge impact in this lineup. Shelton coming from Alabama and Donay transferring from Virginia Tech. They both have the ability to hit 20 home runs this year, but I'd like to see them become more polished hitters improving in the miss/chase numbers. Shelton went 2-3 at the plate with a long double to RF against Georgia.
Cade Kurland, Michael Robertson and Luke Heyman all had quiet nights making contact with the bat. Although Robertson and Heyman did walk twice. Freshman Landon Russell doubled in his one at-bat.
Dale Thomas and Tyler Shelnut are two returns who look to see significant starting time. Shelnut started 50 of 53 games last year, but the third base position is wide open for someone to earn and Thomas got the nod there on Friday. He made the routine plays and hit the lone home run late in the game. I have high expectations for Shelnut and I think he’s an all around great athlete. He was a two-way player at Santa Fe CC before he transferred to Florida and even earned 2021 Mid-Florida Conference Fireman of the Year as the league’s top reliever. He’s focused on hitting since he’s been on Florida’s campus, but it shows how talented he is. Shelnut went 1-3 with 3 RBI as he scored two on his game tying double in the 4th inning.
Georgia’s Lineup
The Bulldogs only produced only four hits all game, but they were able to tally five runs across the board.
The talk of the lineup will be All American slugger Charlie Condon, who’s no doubt a first round pick come the 2024 draft. He was quiet at the plate to start the game off, striking out in three pitches in his first at-bat against Jac Caglinaone. You just had to give him a few more at-bats to show his power and athleticism as he put on the jets tripling in the eighth inning to then score. He played first base which is where he might be long term, although he can shift to the outfield, his bat is no joke.
The Bulldogs also got a key bat from the transfer portal in freshman All-American Kolby Branch. He hit .326 with 6 home runs and walked just one more than he struck out in 2023, posting a 12% z-whiff. He has excellent bat speed and runs at an above-average level. He also displays great defense from the shortstop position.
Sebastian Murillo came in to pinch hit for Paul Toetz and singled in his one at-bat. The only other name that showed out was infielder Josh Stinson, who went 2-4 with a run and an RBI. From an interview with Johnson earlier, he said Stinson has been one of the best performers this fall.
Georgia was able to get to a 2-0 lead as they hit Neely well in the second inning, but eventually Florida’s bats were able to come from behind and win this meeting.
There wasn't much contact made throughout the other bats, but there's a lot to be excited about within the lineup. Just like the pitching staff, it's an experienced group of guys. Corey Collins decided to come back who’s a very vocal leader. Dillon Carter who transferred from Texas Tech should be the every day center fielder.
