Florida Gators sweep doubleheader over Ole Miss Rebels

In basketball, a double-double is when you have double digits in two statistical categories. This season, The Florida Gators have 12 “double-doubles” — games with double-digit runs and hits. The second game of a double header produced the latest double-double, with a 12-8 win that featured 13 hits.

Florida picked up right where it left off in the nightcap, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first for the second-straight game. Kurland drew a leadoff walk followed by an infield single by Wyatt Langford, with Kurland scoring thanks to a wild pitch and subsequent RBI groundout off the bat of Caglianone.
 
Having spotted starter Hurston Waldrep an early run, the right-hander went right to work in the bottom half. Waldrep quickly worked a scoreless inning, striking out two to send the game into the second.
 
Evans was plunked to lead off the following frame, then advanced to third on a single by Prevesk. Robertson then made it 2-0 in favor of Florida with a single to left field.

Gators open it up

Scoring in the third-straight inning to open game two, Florida busted the game open in the third. Caglianone got it going with his third home run of the day – a moon shot to right field for his 16th of the year. Riopelle one-upped Caglianone with a two-run shot to right, while Prevesk capped it off with an RBI groundout on the heels of a Halter triple.

With the Gators roaring out to a 6-0 lead, the Rebels put together a five-run frame. Groff and Alderman both swatted RBI doubles to highlight the outburst, with a pair coming home on Groff’s two-bagger down the left-field line.
 
On the heels of a scoreless fourth, the Gators found the scoring column in the fifth. Riopelle tripled in Rivera and then raced home on a wild pitch to extend the Gator lead to 8-5.
 
Langford provided Gator Nation with an encouraging sight in the sixth, depositing an 0-1 offering into the right-field bullpen for an opposite-field home run. Ole Miss got the run right back, as TJ McCants came home on an RBI groundout by Groff in the bottom half of the sixth.
 
Both squads were held scoreless in the seventh and eighth thanks to strong relief outings from Cade Fisher and Nick Ficarrotta. Ficarrotta fired the final 2 1/3 innings to earn his first save, allowing two earned runs on two hits while striking out one.
 
Ole Miss managed to score two late runs before it was all said and done, as Alderman hit a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
 
Waldrep (4-1) picked up the victory after tossing five-plus innings with six runs (five earned) allowed on six hits and three walks. He struck out nine.

Notes

• The Gators notched their first doubleheader sweep since taking two from Seton Hall on March 12, 2022.
• Florida’s game one win marked the team’s 10th comeback victory of the campaign.
  • It also represented Florida’s largest comeback of the season.
• Neely improved to 4-for-4 in save opportunities in game one.
• Caglianone connected for two home runs in game one and hit his nation-leading 16th long ball with a third homer in game two.
  • The performance marked Caglianone’s fourth multi-homer game of the season.
• Rivera has collected multiple hits in six-straight games.
• Rivera extended his team-leading reached base streak to 24 games (27 including the 2022 season.
  • Robertson extended his own on-base streak to 21 games.
• Florida has struck out double-digit batters in 19 of 25 games.
• Florida has struck out 276 batters in 205 innings – translating to 12.1 per nine innings.
• Through 25 games, Florida has a run differential of plus-130.
  • The Gators have scored in 105 of 195 batted innings this season (53.8%).
• The Gators have 276 hits through 25 games (11.0 hits/game). Florida improves to 56-53 all-time vs. Ole Miss including 21-33 in Oxford.
  • The Gators are 19-14 in the series under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan, featuring a 10-7 mark on the road.