STILLWATER REGIONAL: Oklahoma State 7, Florida 1 — Gators Unable to Solve Holiday. The Gators lost to host Oklahoma State on Saturday night and face Nebraska in an elimination game on Sunday.
WHAT HAPPENED: Oklahoma State slugged five home runs and starter Brian Holiday tossed a two-hitter as the Cowboys beat the Gators, 7-1, Saturday night. The Gators managed only a double by Tyler Shelnut in the second inning and Jac Caglianone's solo home run in the bottom of the ninth against Holiday, a transfer from Central Florida Junior College.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: A former standout at Land O' Lakes High north of Tampa, Holiday is the easy choice despite a pair of home runs by teammate Nolan Schubart. Holiday tossed his second consecutive complete game against a Florida school, allowing only one run in a win over UCF in the Big 12 Tournament. Holiday struck out 10 and walked one in a 131-pitch outing.
STAGGERING STAT: UF lefty Caglianone stepped on the mound Saturday mostly untouched by the long ball, having given up just four home runs in 62 innings (0.58 per 9 IP). He gave up four to the Cowboys, and it appeared to be three consecutive in the first inning until umpires ruled fan interference on Aidan Meola's drive to left field, sending him back to second for a double.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Caglianone made history in the ninth when he hit his 30th home run of the season, taking Holiday over the center-field wall for a solo shot to put the Gators on the scoreboard. The home run made Caglianone the first player in Southeastern Conference history to hit 30 or more home runs in back-to-back seasons.
KEY MOMENT: The Cowboys struck hard in the first inning when Schubart and Zach Ehrhard hit back-to-back home runs with two outs. That set the tone for the night and the Gators could never get their offense going against the right-handed Holiday.
UP NEXT: The Gators face Nebraska in a rematch of their 5-2 in over the Cornhuskers on Friday. This time, it's an elimination game that starts at 2 p.m. ET, or 1 p.m. locally for those attending the Stillwater Regional.
NOTABLES
* Saturday night's official attendance was 5,593.
* Caglianone struck out nine batters across five innings – tied for his second-highest total of the season (March 10 vs. St. Mary's).
* In two-career Regional starts, Caglianone has allowed four runs in 11 innings, allowing 11 hits and five walks.
* He has fanned 16 total batters in those two Regional starts (vs. Florida A&M, vs. Oklahoma State).
* Caglianone extended his on-base streak to 43-straight contests with a ninth-inning homer – his 30th of the season.
* Caglianone has hit safely in 54 of 57 games while reaching safely in all but one contest.
* Caglianone is the first player in SEC history with multiple 30-homer seasons, doing so in back-to-back campaigns in 2023 and 2024.
* Robert Satin made his first appearance on the mound since March 26 vs. Florida State.
* Florida's scoring streak of 136-consecutive games is the third-longest in program history (May 27, 2022-present).
* The Gators are 130-86 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
* UF wields an 87-52 record across 39 NCAA Regional appearances.
* Florida is now 2-5 all-time vs. Oklahoma State (1-3 away).
* The Gators are 0-1 against the Cowboys under head coach Kevin O'Sullivan
WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES / WINNER'S BRACKET
TEXAS 10, FLORIDA 0 (5 innings)
WHAT HAPPENED: No. 1-seed Texas smashed three homers, including a tone-setting three-run shot in the first inning, sending fourth-seeded Florida into the elimination side of the Women's College World Series bracket with a 10-0 run-rule victory Saturday night at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.
Longhorns junior Mac Morgan had a no-hitter going into the Gators' fifth until Katie Kistler, the home run hero in UF's 1-0 first-round win Thursday night over Oklahoma State, broke up the no-no with a hard ground ball that kicked off the second baseman's glove. Morgan got the next batter, Emily Wilkie to ground into a double play, and pinch-hitter Baylee Goddard on a grounder to third to end the game before the stadium lights had even come on.
The tone was set early. After Morgan set UF down in order (with a couple strikeouts) to open the game, Longhorns leadoff batter Bella Dayton greeted UF freshman starter Keagan Rothrock, who two-hit the Cowgirls two nights earlier, with a mashed line-drive single off the wall in left. After a sac bunt moved the runner to second, Dayton scored on a ground single to right by Viviana Martinez to go up 1-0. Rothrock then hit clean-up batter Reese Atwood, putting runners at first and second with just out.
When Katie Stewart, the Longhorns' fifth batter, ripped a double to left center Gators coach Tim Walton made a move. Down 2-0, he pulled Rothrock after just 14 pitches and called on freshman Ava Brown to switch from first base to the circle. Brown, making just her third appearance of the postseason, was greeted by Alyssa Washington with a three-run homer into the left-center bleachers to dump the Gators into a 5-0 hole.
Two innings later, it was 9-0 after the Longhorns struck for a pair of two-out homers -- a solo shot by Martinez and then, after back-to-back singles, a three-run shot by Stewart -- to push UT past the run-rule threshold. UF went quietly from there.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Given the Longhorns came in giving up just 2.24 runs per game and have three outstanding pitchers with ERAs under 2.00, that Washington homer and 5-0 lead out of the box was an ominous start, to say the least.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: There's a reason the Longhorns are the No. 1 team in the country. Remember, they beat Stanford 4-0 in Thursday's opening round, so make that two shutouts in two WCWS games. Texas is also the No. 1 offensive team in the country and demonstrated as much Saturday at the Gators' expense, finishing with 10 hits and 10 runs through just four innings. The Longhorns came to OKC batting .379 as a team and averaging 8.0 runs per game.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: The shutout was the Gators' first in 40 games this season. Read on.
UP NEXT: Florida (52-14) will face 14th-seeded Alabama (39-19) in an all-Southeastern Conference elimination game Sunday beginning at 3 p.m. ET. The Gators took two of three from the Crimson Tide during their regular-season series at Tuscaloosa, winning the first two games 2-0 and 11-2, then dropping the third 3-0. The latter was way back on March 11, and marked the last time UF was shut out this season.
WHAT HAPPENED: Oklahoma State slugged five home runs and starter Brian Holiday tossed a two-hitter as the Cowboys beat the Gators, 7-1, Saturday night. The Gators managed only a double by Tyler Shelnut in the second inning and Jac Caglianone's solo home run in the bottom of the ninth against Holiday, a transfer from Central Florida Junior College.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: A former standout at Land O' Lakes High north of Tampa, Holiday is the easy choice despite a pair of home runs by teammate Nolan Schubart. Holiday tossed his second consecutive complete game against a Florida school, allowing only one run in a win over UCF in the Big 12 Tournament. Holiday struck out 10 and walked one in a 131-pitch outing.
STAGGERING STAT: UF lefty Caglianone stepped on the mound Saturday mostly untouched by the long ball, having given up just four home runs in 62 innings (0.58 per 9 IP). He gave up four to the Cowboys, and it appeared to be three consecutive in the first inning until umpires ruled fan interference on Aidan Meola's drive to left field, sending him back to second for a double.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Caglianone made history in the ninth when he hit his 30th home run of the season, taking Holiday over the center-field wall for a solo shot to put the Gators on the scoreboard. The home run made Caglianone the first player in Southeastern Conference history to hit 30 or more home runs in back-to-back seasons.
KEY MOMENT: The Cowboys struck hard in the first inning when Schubart and Zach Ehrhard hit back-to-back home runs with two outs. That set the tone for the night and the Gators could never get their offense going against the right-handed Holiday.
UP NEXT: The Gators face Nebraska in a rematch of their 5-2 in over the Cornhuskers on Friday. This time, it's an elimination game that starts at 2 p.m. ET, or 1 p.m. locally for those attending the Stillwater Regional.
NOTABLES
* Saturday night's official attendance was 5,593.
* Caglianone struck out nine batters across five innings – tied for his second-highest total of the season (March 10 vs. St. Mary's).
* In two-career Regional starts, Caglianone has allowed four runs in 11 innings, allowing 11 hits and five walks.
* He has fanned 16 total batters in those two Regional starts (vs. Florida A&M, vs. Oklahoma State).
* Caglianone extended his on-base streak to 43-straight contests with a ninth-inning homer – his 30th of the season.
* Caglianone has hit safely in 54 of 57 games while reaching safely in all but one contest.
* Caglianone is the first player in SEC history with multiple 30-homer seasons, doing so in back-to-back campaigns in 2023 and 2024.
* Robert Satin made his first appearance on the mound since March 26 vs. Florida State.
* Florida's scoring streak of 136-consecutive games is the third-longest in program history (May 27, 2022-present).
* The Gators are 130-86 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
* UF wields an 87-52 record across 39 NCAA Regional appearances.
* Florida is now 2-5 all-time vs. Oklahoma State (1-3 away).
* The Gators are 0-1 against the Cowboys under head coach Kevin O'Sullivan
WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES / WINNER'S BRACKET
TEXAS 10, FLORIDA 0 (5 innings)
WHAT HAPPENED: No. 1-seed Texas smashed three homers, including a tone-setting three-run shot in the first inning, sending fourth-seeded Florida into the elimination side of the Women's College World Series bracket with a 10-0 run-rule victory Saturday night at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.
Longhorns junior Mac Morgan had a no-hitter going into the Gators' fifth until Katie Kistler, the home run hero in UF's 1-0 first-round win Thursday night over Oklahoma State, broke up the no-no with a hard ground ball that kicked off the second baseman's glove. Morgan got the next batter, Emily Wilkie to ground into a double play, and pinch-hitter Baylee Goddard on a grounder to third to end the game before the stadium lights had even come on.
The tone was set early. After Morgan set UF down in order (with a couple strikeouts) to open the game, Longhorns leadoff batter Bella Dayton greeted UF freshman starter Keagan Rothrock, who two-hit the Cowgirls two nights earlier, with a mashed line-drive single off the wall in left. After a sac bunt moved the runner to second, Dayton scored on a ground single to right by Viviana Martinez to go up 1-0. Rothrock then hit clean-up batter Reese Atwood, putting runners at first and second with just out.
When Katie Stewart, the Longhorns' fifth batter, ripped a double to left center Gators coach Tim Walton made a move. Down 2-0, he pulled Rothrock after just 14 pitches and called on freshman Ava Brown to switch from first base to the circle. Brown, making just her third appearance of the postseason, was greeted by Alyssa Washington with a three-run homer into the left-center bleachers to dump the Gators into a 5-0 hole.
Two innings later, it was 9-0 after the Longhorns struck for a pair of two-out homers -- a solo shot by Martinez and then, after back-to-back singles, a three-run shot by Stewart -- to push UT past the run-rule threshold. UF went quietly from there.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Given the Longhorns came in giving up just 2.24 runs per game and have three outstanding pitchers with ERAs under 2.00, that Washington homer and 5-0 lead out of the box was an ominous start, to say the least.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: There's a reason the Longhorns are the No. 1 team in the country. Remember, they beat Stanford 4-0 in Thursday's opening round, so make that two shutouts in two WCWS games. Texas is also the No. 1 offensive team in the country and demonstrated as much Saturday at the Gators' expense, finishing with 10 hits and 10 runs through just four innings. The Longhorns came to OKC batting .379 as a team and averaging 8.0 runs per game.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: The shutout was the Gators' first in 40 games this season. Read on.
UP NEXT: Florida (52-14) will face 14th-seeded Alabama (39-19) in an all-Southeastern Conference elimination game Sunday beginning at 3 p.m. ET. The Gators took two of three from the Crimson Tide during their regular-season series at Tuscaloosa, winning the first two games 2-0 and 11-2, then dropping the third 3-0. The latter was way back on March 11, and marked the last time UF was shut out this season.
