OMAHA, Neb. – Cags the pitcher didn’t last long, but Cags the hitter made his mark.
Jac Caglianone pitched just one inning but smacked a three-run homer in the second to break a 1-1 tie and spark Florida to a 5-4 victory over NC State in an elimination game on Monday afternoon in the 2024 College World Series.
“Another well-played game by both teams,” UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Proud of our team’s resiliency today. When you get in the elimination brackets it’s about emotion and keeping your energy going and we did that today.”
The Gators (35-29) will play a second elimination game on Tuesday, June 18, at 6 p.m. CT against the loser of the Kentucky-Texas A&M contest. The Wolfpack ended its season at 38-23.
NCSU got on the board in the bottom of the first against Caglianone, loading the bases with one away on a hit batsman and two walks before a single by Brandon Butterworth made it 1-0. Caglianone got a strikeout and a flyout to avoid further damage.
UF answered in the top of the second, loading the bases with one away. Cade Kurland delivered a sac fly and Caglianone followed with a three-run dinger, his program-record 34th of the season, to give the Gators a 4-1 advantage.
That home run tied Caglianone with Matt LaPorta for the program record with 74 career homers.
“It’s a great feeling,” Caglianone said. “Mr. LaPorta has reached out countless times throughout the year. He’s here with his kids and family, watching this. It was a special moment for sure.”
Alec Makarewicz smacked a two-run homer in the bottom of the third as the Pack pulled within one at 4-3.
Tyler Shelnut sent a solo shot to the bullpen in left in the top of the fifth as UF extends its lead to 5-3.
“I knew his change-up was his best pitch,” Shelnut said. “I was trying to see the fastball as deep as I could, give me time to recognize it. And I was able to put a good swing on it.”
Garrett Pennington had a leadoff double in the bottom of the fifth and scored on a two-out two-bagger by Butterworth as NCSU pulled within one at 5-4.
The Pack would get its leadoff hitters on in the sixth, seventh and eighth, but could not plate the tying run. NCSU stranded a runner at third to end the eighth.
Neither team would score over the final four frames. Jake Clemente tossed a hitless sixth before Brandon Neely worked the final three innings with one hit, one walk and six strikeouts to record his fifth save.
“It takes a different person to close out games,” O’Sullivan said. “They’re hard to find at this level, even at the big league level. But for whatever reason, he really takes to that role.”
Cade Fisher (4-3, 4 IP, 4 H, 3 R, BB, 3 K) picked up the win following Caglianone on the mound in the second for the Gators.
Logan Whitaker was fantastic in relief for the Pack, going 7.0 innings with two hits, one run, three walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts. He threw 104 pitches.
“The change-up was working today,” Whitaker said, “and it worked earlier when I didn’t have my fastball command in the first couple of innings. But without that defense behind me there’s no way I do what I do up there.”
Pennington went 1 for 3, was plunked twice and scored three times.
“I’m just so proud of these guys,” NCSU head coach Elliott Avent said. “They took us on a ride of a lifetime because this place is so magical. It’s so fun to get here and it’s so hard to leave.”
Notes
The SEC is 4-0 against the ACC in the 2024 College World Series.
NC State’s elimination ensures that an SEC team will be in the CWS Championship Series for the 15th time in the past 16 championships. Florida, Kentucky and Texas A&M remain alive in Bracket 2.
Florida became the first visiting team to win in the 2024 CWS.
This was the fifth one-run game out of seven in the CWS.
NC State went 0-2 in Omaha for the first time in four CWS appearances.
Prior to the CWS, NCSU was 30-1 when outhitting its opponents. The Wolfpack lost both games in Omaha despite outhitting its opponents.