Kevin O'Sullivan explains pulling Jac Caglianone after one inning of pitching

Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan explained why he pulled Jac Caglianone from the mound after just one inning Monday.

In the end, it didn’t matter as the Gators eliminated the Wolfpack from the College World Series with a 5-4 victory. Caglianone even had a three-run home run in the second inning.

But O’Sullivan maintained there was nothing injury related or serious regarding Caglianone’s pitching struggles Monday afternoon.

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“It was pretty obvious he didn’t have his best stuff after the first,” O’Sullivan said. “And honestly he battled the last week against Clemson without his best stuff.

“And I could just tell there’s a different look in his eyes a little bit. And I didn’t want to push him today because I knew we were going to — didn’t look like it was going to be an offensive day because of the wind. And we had Cade fresh, and that’s what we decided to do.”

Calgianone also revealed it just simply wasn’t his day out there, at least on the mound.

“Definitely didn’t have my best stuff today,” Caglianone said. “But I know I still had opportunities at the plate to step up for my team. I didn’t really put that into perspective. Hopefully it’s not. But I just knew that I had opportunities at the plate and I wanted to take full advantage of them.”

Despite Caglianone getting pulled off the mound, Florida avoided elimination.

“I mean, when you commit here, whether that be out of the portal or out of high school, you know what the standard is here,” Caglianone said. “The end goal is to be here and to be the last team standing. Growing up watching Florida, every time I looked, it seemed like they were here. So kind of the way Sully has built this culture and this program to where it’s at now is probably the biggest drawing factor to everyone who wants to come here and everyone who is here.

“It’s nothing that we players kind of take for granted. We know what standards we’re held to and how we need to play. And thankfully we’re doing it at the right time in the postseason.”

Florida is back in action Tuesday night against Kentucky in another elimination game to stay alive in the College World Series.