Live Updates: Florida Gators vs Clemson Tigers Game 1 Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. — The Florida Gators are just two wins away from the College World Series. Standing in their way are the Clemson Tigers. The Gators and Tigers are set for a best of three series among the hills and trees of Clemson, South Carolina.

Florida (32-28, 13-17 SEC) enters its 12th Super Regional in program history with its first matchup vs. Clemson (44-14, 20-10 ACC) in 41 years. The Gators and Tigers faced 30 times from 1928-83, with UF winning the two-most recent matchups in 1983 in Gainesville. The Gators are 18-12 all-time vs. Clemson, but 1-2 on the road.

Take advantage of our limited offer and join Gators Online for just $1

Although head coach Kevin O’Sullivan has never faced Clemson, he spent nine seasons as an assistant with the Tigers from 1999-2007 under then-head coach Jack Leggett. O’Sullivan and current Clemson head coach Erik Bakich worked together as assistants under Leggett during the 2002 campaign, a season in which the Tigers advanced to the College World Series.

[RELATED: Florida Gators have a familiar path to the College World Series]

**Join the conversation in the Gators Online Message Board**

Lineups

FLORIDA
2B Cade Kurland
1B Jac Caglianone
RF Ashton Wilson
SS Colby Shelton
C Luke Heyman
LF Tyler Shelnut
3B Dale Thomas
DH Brody Donay
CF Mikey Robertson
SP: RHP Liam Peterson

CLEMSON
RF Alden Mathes
SS Jacob Hinderleider
3B Blake Wright
CF Cam Cannarella
C Jimmy Obertop
LF Tristan Bissetta
1B Jack Crighton
DH Jacob Jarrell
2B Jarren Purify
SP: LHP Tristan Smith

Notes

POSTSEASON POINTS
The Gators are looking to clinch their 14th College World Series berth in program history and ninth of the O’Sullivan era in Clemson this weekend. Playing in the team’s 39th NCAA Tournament, Florida is fresh off its 16th Regional Title and 10th in 17 seasons under O’Sullivan (no NCAA Tournament in 2020). The Gators have reached the postseason in every year of O’Sullivan’s tenure, earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament in 16-straight seasons, which ranks second nationally. In fact, O’Sullivan has now reached the NCAA Tournament in 25-consecutive campaigns dating back to his time at Clemson. Florida enters the weekend with nine Super Regional Titles, with all but one coming under O’Sullivan. Florida is 133-86 (.607) all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 18-8 (.692) in Super Regionals.

RELENTLESS REPTILES
By winning three-straight elimination games to claim the Stillwater Regional, the Gators have now came out on top in seven of their last eight NCAA Tournament elimination games dating back to last season. This year alone, Florida boasts 17 come-from-behind wins, with 12 of the team’s 13 SEC victories occurring in comeback fashion. The Gators wield three walk-off victories this year.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Clemson comes in with a 44-14 record on the year after going 20-10 in ACC action. As a team, the Tigers have slashed .299/.401/.512 with 103 homers while pitching to a 4.45 ERA on the mound. In the field, Clemson owns a .968 fielding percentage.

NATIONAL LEADERBOARDS
Florida ranks sixth nationally and fourth in the SEC with 125 home runs (2.1 per game). Meanwhile, the Gators sit 10th in the country and fifth in the SEC in strikeouts per nine (10.6). At .981, Florida paces the SEC and ranks fifth in the NCAA in fielding percentage.

HOW THE MIDWEST WAS WON
For the second year in a row, Florida rallied from a day-two loss in Regionals by winning three-straight elimination games to advance to Supers. Florida defeated Nebraska (5-2) in Stillwater before falling to No. 16 Oklahoma State, 7-1. The Gators then dismantled the Huskers (17-11) before delivering back-to-back wins vs. the Cowboys (5-2, 4-2).

Florida was led by Regional MVP outfielder Ashton Wilson, who opened the tournament with a 4-for-5 showing highlighted by his first homer and never looked back. Wilson went 9-for-21 (.429/.455/.714) with four extra-base hits, six RBI, five runs and two steals. He was joined on the All-Regional Team by first baseman Jac Caglianone (.353/.542/.882, 2 HR), shortstop Colby Shelton (.316/.409/.684, 2 HR), third baseman Dale Thomas (.263/.300/.474, 1 HR) and closer Brandon Neely. The latter was particularly heroic, firing eight shutout innings across two relief appearances, capped off by 5 2/3 one-hit frames with 11 strikeouts vs. Oklahoma State on June 2.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DING DONGS
For the first time since the 1998 season, Florida has seven different hitters with double-digit home runs: Caglianone (31), Shelton (20), catcher Luke Heyman (15), infielder/outfielder Tyler Shelnut (14), second baseman Cade Kurland (14), outfielder Ty Evans (13), and catcher/designated hitter Brody Donay (11). Those seven players have accounted for 118 of the Gators’ 125 home runs this season (94.4%). In 1998, Florida was led by Brad Wilkerson with 23 home runs, followed by David Ross (19), Jason Dill (16), Derek Nicholson (15), Mark Ellis (14), Greg Catalanotte (13) and Casey Smith (12). Last year’s SEC Championship team had six players hit 10-plus homers highlighted by five with 17-plus.

IT ALL FILTERS THROUGH AW30
On May 10, with just five regular-season games remaining, Wilson was 0-for-6 on the year. In the 12 games since, his .366 average is second on the team behind Caglianone (.405) as he has racked up 11 games, nine starts, 15 hits and 41 at bats. Wilson has earned the No. 3 spot in the order by posting a .409 on-base percentage, .585 slugging percentage, 11 RBI and nine runs in that span.

THE BEST PLAYER IN COLLEGE BASEBALL
Caglianone delivered three extraordinary feats over the course of the regular season. After homering in an NCAA-record nine-straight games from April 6-19, Caglianone followed the act with an equally brilliant one by going 66 consecutive plate appearances without a strikeout from April 7-27. The slugger then proceeded to post a 30-game hitting streak from March 23 through May 12 to tie the all-time program mark set by Jacob Young in 2021. He now owns each of the two most prolific home run seasons in Gators history, setting the team record with 33 last season while his 31 bombs this year rank second.

This season, Caglianone has slashed .410/.526/.847 with 31 home runs, 75 runs scored and 63 RBI – all of which lead the Gators. The two-way standout ranks third nationally in home runs (second in SEC), sixth in slugging (second in SEC), seventh in batting average (second in SEC) and ninth in on-base percentage (third in SEC). On top of that, the Tampa, Fla. native has drawn 25 more walks (48) than strikeouts (23), ranking as the 60th-most-difficult hitter to strikeout in the nation with 10.0 at bats per strikeout and wielding a minuscule 8.1% K-rate.

On the mound, Caglianone wields a 5-2 record, 4.57 ERA and 10.2 strikeouts per nine. In addition to pacing the Orange & Blue in ERA, he leads in innings pitched (67.0), games started (14) and batting average against (.225), the latter of which ranks 10th in the SEC. Caglianone has allowed the third-fewest hits (56) and second-fewest homers (eight) among qualified SEC hurlers.

The post Live Updates: Florida Gators vs Clemson Tigers Game 1 Clemson appeared first on On3.