GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Gators head coach
Kevin O'Sullivan's expression tells you everything you need to know. Watch the replay closely.
The moment happened when the bat popped, and the ball sailed into the sunny sky and out of Condron Ballpark — not just over the right field wall but
out of the stadium.
O'Sullivan has written the names of many talented sluggers onto the lineup card during his 16 seasons at Florida — Preston Tucker, Mike Zunino, Pete Alonso and Jonathan India graduated to the big leagues — so, understandably, the veteran skipper is not easily impressed. Still, when sophomore
Jac Caglianone launched a 1-0 pitch from Cincinnati reliever Jackson Murphy for a 462-foot two-run homer Sunday, O'Sullivan's head snapped in the ball's direction. When he saw how high and far the ball carried, O'Sullivan's mouth opened for a split second as if to say "whoa."
He then turned his attention back to Caglianone as the 6-foot-5, 245-pound two-way player started to round the bases.
In the radio booth above, play-by-play announcer Steve Russell said what O'Sullivan and others were thinking.
"Oh, my goodness! Are you kidding me?" Russell called on the air. "This ball is completely out of the ballpark."
On the SEC Network's broadcast, Jeff Cardozo amplified the moment.
"
Jac Caglianone is something special,'' he said.
The Southeastern Conference took notice, naming Caglianone Co-SEC Player of the Week on Monday. All Caglianone did was go 10-for-21 with six home runs over five games, including his three-homer game Sunday as the Gators swept the Bearcats. The lefty started Sunday's game for good measure, tossing 4 2/3 innings and striking out six. Caglianone's outing was not as sharp as his first one coming off Tommy John surgery, but it was an afterthought considering what he and the Gators did at the plate.
"It's amazing. He has a ton of raw power,'' said shortstop
Josh Rivera, who slammed two homers of his own. "To see him grow in his approach, really utilize his strength, and try to hit the ball on the line, it's something special. You know he has the ability to change the game with one swing."
Jac Caglianone struck out six in 4 1/3 innings on Sunday, but his performance on the mound was overshadowed by what he did in the batter's box. (Photo: Hannah White/UAA Communications)
Caglianone became the first UF player to hit at least three home runs in a game since former teammate
Jud Fabian a season ago, leading the way as the Gators crank a program-record eight homers in Sunday's 13-7 victory. Caglianone's two-way performance made him the only player in the country who has hit six home runs and struck out 15 batters in the young season.
As good as Caglianone was at the plate, O'Sullivan talked more about his pitching performance afterward. Caglianone is a high-energy kind of guy who is often his harshest critic.
He ran into trouble in the first inning Sunday, surrendering a run before escaping the jam. He flew out in his first at-bat. O'Sullivan removed him as a pitcher in the top of the fifth with two outs and after 92 pitches. He wondered how the early hook might affect Caglianone at the plate.
O'Sullivan had nothing to worry about. Caglianone, after his pitching exit, responded by hitting 1,286 feet of home runs.
"He could have easily hung his head," O'Sullivan said. "I thought he pitched really good after the first. We're asking a lot of him. If he's going to end up being our Sunday starter, it's a pretty good Sunday starter."
Caglianone's first homer, a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth with an exit velocity of 118 mph, was a 375-foot line drive. He followed that with his towering shot in the sixth, and in the eighth, Caglianone hit a 449-foot shot off Bearcats right-hander Griffin Hugus that bounced high off the batter's eye wall in center field.
Caglianone took a moment to appreciate that blast before breaking into his well-traveled home run trot.
"That's the first time I've ever hit three home runs in a game,'' he said. "Performance on the mound, I hold myself to a higher standard than that. But at the plate, if one part's kind of lacking, you've got to pick up some of the slack."
Caglianone did that and more Sunday, displaying the arm and raw power that has people talking about him with the Gators headed to Jacksonville on Tuesday night.
The Gators are 7-1 and hitting up and down the lineup. The player they call "Cags" has already lived up to the hype, with a signature performance that those who watched it won't forget anytime soon.
In a single game, Caglianone displayed why there was so much buzz around him entering the season.
O'Sullivan hopes Cags is just warming up.
"If we're going to be as good as we want to be, he's going to have to pitch significant innings for us,'' O'Sullivan said. "He's just too talented not to run him out there as much as you can. You don't have many players that can hit a baseball over 100 mph and throw close to 100 on the mound.
"They just don't come around very often. He's a special talent."
Unique talents deserve nicknames. Jachtani, coined by veteran Gators beat writer Nick de la Torre, seems the most popular. Why not? The inspiration is the most exciting two-way player in the majors since a player called The Babe.
Plus, some guy named Rocky goes by the Italian Stallion.
