Florida baseball routs Stetson, Gators hit 7 home runs

Florida came to swing it Tuesday night against Stetson and walked out of Condron Family Ballpark early following a 13-3 rout of the Hatters.

The Gators hit seven home runs in as many innings, satisfying the run rule with a walk-off single from Jac Caglianone to score Michael Robertson.

Caglianone hit two of the homers, making up for his broken streak in the series finale against Vanderbilt. The left-handed slugger has hit 13 home runs in 14 games and is now just one back of the national lead (Charlie Condon, 26, Georgia).

Robertson also homered, his first of the year, along with Brody Donay (7), Ty Evans (10), Luke Heyman (9) and Cade Kurland (8). Both Caglianone and Robertson finished the night with three hits — Cags was walked to reach base a fourth time. Six Gators finished with two or more hits. Only Colby Shelton failed to reach base.

Most of the damage came in the second. Seven runs scored on six hits, including three home runs. In fact, every run of the night for Florida crossed on a home run.

Cade Fisher got the start for Florida. He looked fine through and then gave up three straight singles to start the third, bringing in Ryan Slater with the bases loaded. The junior right-hander limited the damage to just one run crossing, keeping Stetson out of the game.

Slater worked through a double in the fourth but left with two outs in the fifth after an unearned run crossed. Frank Menendez came in for the left-on-lefty matchup against Landon Moran. Menedez came up with the strikeout and pitched a clean sixth aside from an infield error to open the frame.

Menendez is another freshman arm that is starting to settle in as the season continues. He only recorded four outs through his first five appearances, but he’s been a much different pitcher lately. Through his last three appearances (Jacksonville, Vanderbilt and Stetson), Menedez has allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out six.

A leadoff single brought in Luke McNeillie in the seventh, which ended up being the final inning thanks to four runs in the bottom of the frame.

Florida’s midweek woes seem to be fading, but a big series with Arkansas looms this weekend. The Gators have lost three conference series in a row and are at risk of entering the playoffs as a low seed.

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