GAINESVILLE REGIONAL: Texas Tech 5, Gators 4 — UF Must Win Twice Sunday

Saturday, June 3, 2023 | Baseball, Scott Carter

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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE REGIONAL at CONDRON FAMILY BALLPARK
Texas Tech 5, Gators 4

WHAT HAPPENED: Texas Tech first baseman Gavin Kash went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs as the Red Raiders dealt the host Gators a 5-4 loss in the Gainesville Regional on Saturday night. The Gators took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on a RBI sacrifice fly by Josh Rivera. However, Austin Green's two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth put Texas Tech up 2-1. Kash's first home run of the game, a solo shot in the fifth, made it 3-1.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Gators reliever Ryan Slater retired the first two batters in the eighth before Zac Vooletich singled. That brought up Kash, who connected on Slater's 3-2 pitch for a two-run homer to left-center that hushed the crowd at Condron Ballpark. The home run was Kash's 26th of season.

STRANGE STAT: Three-peat. Not an accomplishment the Gators wanted. They have lost their second game of the Gainesville Regional in all three seasons of Condron Ballpark, losing to South Alabama in 2021 (eliminated), Oklahoma last season and Texas Tech on Saturday.

Gators Dugout (2023 vs. Texas Tech) — The Gators need to win a pair of games on Sunday to keep their season alive. (Photo: **Te'a Startz**/UAA Communications)

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Gators right-hander Brandon Sproat had a solid start, limiting Texas Tech to four hits and three runs over six innings. Sproat walked two and struck out seven after Jac Caglianone started Game 1 on Friday. With Caglianone and Sproat taking their turns in the rotation, right-hander Hurston Waldrep will have an opportunity to keep the season alive with his first NCAA Tournament start for the Gators. Waldrep (7-3, 4.83) is slated to face Connecticut's Garrett Coe (6-2, 4.01).

KEY MOMENT(S): Florida trailed 3-1 when Caglianone stepped to the plate with Wyatt Langford at first base in the top of the sixth. Facing Red Raiders lefty reliever Ryan Free, Caglianone hit an 0-2 pitch the opposite way for a two-run homer to tie the game and re-energize Condron Ballpark. The game remained tied until Kash's heroics in the eighth. Caglianone's next time up, in the seventh, also proved crucial. With two outs and Cade Kurland at first, Caglianone belted a drive deep to center field. Red Raiders outfielder Gage Harrelson made a leaping catch at the wall to prevent Florida from taking the lead and to end the inning.

BY THE NUMBERS: 121 — Home runs hit by Gators this season, matching the 2022 team for second-most in school history; 132 — Program-record home runs hit by 1998 Gators; 19 — Number of times Kurland has been hit by a pitch this season, tied with Matt LaPorta (2007) for second all-time in school history behind David Eckstein (25).

NOTABLES

Florida is now 120-83 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- The Gators are 83-51 in NCAA Regional play.
- UF is hosting its 19th NCAA Regional while making the 38th Regional appearance in program history.
  - Florida has hosted 12 out of a possible 15 Regionals in the Kevin O'Sullivan era.
Caglianone swatted his 29th home run of the season to tie the game at three runs apiece in the sixth inning.
- Caglianone's 29 home runs rank second nationally behind Charlotte's Cam Fisher (30).
Caglianone now has 78 RBI on the season, moving into sole possession of fourth in a single season at UF.
Langford hit his 23rd double of the season, bringing him within five of tying Mike Zunino's single-season program record of 28.
Sproat produced his sixth quality start of the season.
Florida has struck out 612 batters in 514 innings – translating to 10.7 per nine innings, which would mark a new program record.
The Gators have 592 hits through 60 games (9.9 hits/game).
The Gators have scored in 44.5% of batted innings (217 of 488).
Florida is now 1-3 all-time vs. Texas Tech, all of which have taken place in the postseason in the Kevin O'Sullivan era.

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
On Sproat's outing…
"I thought Brandon threw the ball good. Gave up three over six for a quality start. He did everything we asked him to do. We made a couple of key mistakes during the game that ended up hurting us a bit, but Texas Tech played really good. Their starter was really good. But we had our opportunities, just didn't have our best at-bats in the most crucial times."

On the recent offensive struggles…
"We had a good game plan; their starter was just really good. His changeup was really good and he was up to 96 and was coming off a really good start last week in the conference tournament. He threw the ball good and we had a good game plan but the guy came in and threw sliders. We got the leadoff man on with Josh (Rivera) but struck out, struck out and hit a ground ball to third. We had the bases loaded with one out and needed to elevate the ball and didn't. We had first and third with one out and called an offensive timeout and Michael (Robinson) is supposed to get the ball down first base line because the first baseman was holding the runner on and he put it down the third baseline and we didn't score a run, so the little things cost you in a game like this."

On the message to the team…
"We are disappointed, but have to flush it. Nothing else to do but win the next three games. We have to win tomorrow against UConn and then move on hopefully to the second game and be successful there and then move on to the next one. It's really that simple. We put ourselves in this position but it's certainly doable. We have enough pitching to do it, we just have to win tomorrow."

UP NEXT: Florida dropped into the losers' bracket with the defeat and faces Connecticut on Sunday afternoon (12 p.m.) in an elimination game. The winner of that game plays Texas Tech at 6 p.m. Sunday to try and stay alive and force a winner-take-all game on Monday.

— Sullivan Bortner contributed to this report.