Florida two-way star Jac Caglianone smashed his way into the NCAA record books by homering in nine straight games. The streak, which tied the record set by Nevada’s Tyler Bosetti in 2021, began against Missouri on April 7 and ended Saturday against Vanderbilt.
Caglianone was 15-for-34 (.441) with nine home runs and 16 RBIs in the nine games. For the season, he hit .401 and ranked second nationally in home runs (23) and eighth in slugging (.854).
His streak ended Saturday when he went 1-for-3 in a 6-2 win at Vanderbilt. He was intentionally walked in his final plate appearance, with one out and a runner on second base in the top of the ninth and the Gators leading 4-2.
Cags failed to hit a home run, but he was the game-winning pitcher, allowing six hits and two earned runs in five innings. He is now 5-0 with a 3.86 ERA in nine starts. Opposing hitters are hitting just .201 against him.
Florida lost the first two games of the series and is 20-19 overall and 8-10 in the SEC with an RPI of 35.
Vanderbilt starting pitcher JD Thompson was ejected from Sunday’s game in the top of the fourth inning for using a foreign substance (believed to be a combination of rosin and sunscreen). The infraction typically carries a four-game suspension, but no decision from the SEC had been issued as of Monday morning.
Around the horn
The weekend’s flagship series did not disappoint.
Tennessee won two of Kentucky’s three games in Lexington in a battle of the top five teams in the SEC East. The Wildcats opened the weekend with a 5-3 win Friday night to improve their conference record to an incredible 15-1, but Tennessee responded with 9-4 and 13-11 wins to clinch the series .
Sunday’s game featured 10 home runs between the two teams, including three from Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore and two from Kentucky third baseman Mitchell Daly.
YOU’RE KIDDING ME!
CMo for the third time today!
📺 (SECN+)#HEAR // #OTH // #BeatUK pic.twitter.com/VQB9tGWOp3
– Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) April 21, 2024
Kentucky, now 15-3 in the SEC, still has the best overall record in the league and holds a three-game lead over Tennessee in the SEC East.
It’s been a very good season for the ACC, which currently has four teams ranked in the top 10 in the RPI. It was, however, a forgettable Tuesday for the league, as eight of the 12 teams in action suffered a loss midweek. Here is the carnage:
- UNCW 8, Wake Forest 5
- Campbell 11, NC State 7 (12 innings)
- Coastal Carolina 5, North Carolina 4
- Mercer 13, Florida State 6
- Auburn 12, Georgia Tech 8
- Old Dominion 7, Virginia 4
- West Virginia 6, Pittsburgh 3
- Kentucky 17, Louisville 13
Four of the eight teams that lost were ranked in the top 12 of last week’s D1 Baseball top 25: No. 8 Florida State, No. 10 Virginia, No. 11 North Carolina and No. 12 Wake Forest.
Georgia Tech fell to 3-6 in the ACC in late March after being swept at home by Boston College. The Yellow Jackets have won three straight series since and are working their way back into the mix for a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Danny Hall’s team accomplishes this with a powerful offense that has averaged 13.4 points in its last five ACC games. The Jackets are 24-14 overall and 9-9 in the ACC after winning two of three at Virginia this weekend. Freshman Drew Burress was 4-for-6 with a homer and two RBIs in Sunday’s 17-12 win.
Arizona extended its Pac-12 winning streak to 10 games with a three-game sweep of Washington State and is now in sole possession of first place with a 13-5 record. Center fielder Brendan Summerhill went a combined 7-for-11 with three RBIs in the three games and is now hitting a team-best .366.
The Wildcats are two games ahead of Oregon and 2.5 ahead of Oregon State.
Oregon State’s struggles on the road in Pac-12 play continue. The Beavers, who entered the weekend ranked fifth in the country, were swept in California and have now lost their last six away league games.
Cal, meanwhile, has won eight straight games, including six in a row in the Pac-12. The Bears are 24-14 overall and 11-10 in league play.
Oklahoma recovered from a midseason slump that included losses in three straight weekend series to return to first place in the Big 12. The Sooners put together back-to-back sweeps – against Kansas State at home and at BYU last weekend – to improve to 24-14 overall and 14-4 in the Big 12.
In conference play only, Oklahoma leads the league in batting average (.317), on-base percentage (.410) and slugging percentage (.545).
Western Kentucky remains atop the Conference USA standings after sweeping Liberty at home this weekend. The Hilltoppers, who also won series against Dallas Baptist and Sam Houston State, are 29-12 overall and 11-4 in league play under second-year coach Marc Rardin.
Florida State traveled to Winston-Salem without the services of starting pitchers Cam Leiter and Conner Whittaker and lost a series for only the second time this season, losing two of three to Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons won the first game 5-4 Friday night in a matchup between two of the best pitchers in the country: Wake’s Chase Burns and FSU’s Jamie Arnold. Neither ace was at his best, with Burns allowing three earned runs and seven hits in five innings and Arnold allowing three runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings.
The teams split a doubleheader Saturday, with the Seminoles winning Game 1 9-6 and Wake winning Game 2 10-9 on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth.
FSU coach Link Jarrett indicated earlier in the week that Leiter and Whittaker should return to action soon.
Texas Tech is back in the Big 12 thanks to a weekend sweep of West Virginia in Lubbock. The Red Raiders have allowed a total of seven points in the three games a week after allowing nine total points in a series loss at TCU.
Texas Tech is 12-9 in league play, 3.5 games behind Oklahoma and a half-game behind Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Texas.
UConn climbed into first place in the Big East with an impressive sweep at Georgetown this weekend. The Huskies are just 20-18 overall – due to some early struggles against a tough non-conference schedule – but improved to 7-2 in league play after beating the Hoyas by a combined four points in three matches.
Arkansas bounced back from its first series loss of the season by sweeping Texas Tech in two midweek games in Fayetteville, then winning two of three games in South Carolina.
Hagen Smith allowed just two hits and one earned run while striking out 11 over six innings in Friday’s 2-1 win. Smith leads all starters nationally in ERA (1.53) and batting average against (.136). In SEC games only, he is 6-0 in six starts with a 1.25 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 30 innings.
And finally …
• Bowling Green’s perfect run in the MAC ended with a 4-2 home loss to Ohio on Sunday. The Falcons had won their first 17 league matches.
• Maryland-Eastern Shore is now 0-33 overall and 0-18 in the Northeast Conference after being swept at Coppin State.
• Georgia slugger Charlie Condon went 7-for-14 with two homers to lead the Bulldogs to a series victory over Ole Miss. Condon leads the nation in batting average (.483) and home runs (26).
• Mercer, which beat Florida State in Tallahassee, is now 12-4 against top 10 teams in Craig Gibson’s 21 seasons at the school.
With last night’s victory against No. 8 Florida State ➡️ @CraigGibson_MU is now 12-4 against teams ranked in the Top 10‼️#GoodToGreat | #WinnersWin pic.twitter.com/zBVPeUPsaq
–Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball) April 17, 2024
• UNC Wilmington is tied for first in the CAA with a 12-3 record after winning two of three games at Northeastern this weekend. UNCW and Charleston are two games ahead of Northeastern, the preseason pick to win the league.
• We might have our winner for college baseball’s Catch of the Year thanks to Oakland University’s John Lauinger and Reggie Bussey.
ROAD FLIGHT‼️ #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/wxiyG9RQ76
– Oakland Golden Grizzlies Baseball (@OaklandBSB) April 20, 2024
• Or maybe that’s it, from Arizona State’s Isaiah Jackson.
PUT IT ON @D1BASEBALL
PUT IT ON @ESPNPUT. HE. IN. THE. Louvre.
This is the best take you will EVER see in @Jackson_Isaiah6. pic.twitter.com/U03LkPDVdq
– Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) April 21, 2024
• There has been recent talk about the Boston College bubble. Scratch that. The Eagles are 20-19 overall and 7-14 in the ACC after being swept at Notre Dame this weekend.
• LSU won its first championship series of the season, winning two of three games at Missouri to improve to 5-13 in the SEC.
• Illinois sits in first place in the Big Ten with a 10-2 record after sweeping Northwestern over the weekend.
(Photo: Corey Perrine / Florida Times-Union / USA Today)