NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Florida came up short in game two against No. 13 Vanderbilt by a final score of 5-2 at Hawkins Field on Friday night.
 
Despite the loss, the matchup was a historic one for the Orange & Blue as two-way standout Jac Caglianone (1-for-4) slugged a homer for the ninth-straight game to tie the all-time NCAA record. Brody Donay (1-for-3) also went yard while Luke Heyman (2-for-3) logged a multi-hit effort.
 
The Commodores (29-10, 10-7 SEC) struck first against the Gators (19-19, 7-10 SEC) in game two, with Davis Diaz hitting a two-run double into the left-center field gap to open a 2-0 Vanderbilt lead in the bottom of the first.
 
With runners at the corners and two outs in the second inning, Florida lifted starter Pierce Coppola in favor of right-hander Liam Peterson. The freshman induced a flyout to right field to hold the score.
 
In the third, Vanderbilt pushed its advantage to 3-0 on a solo home run to center field off the bat of Alan Espinal. Peterson then produced a zero in the fourth by stranding the bases loaded with his third strikeout.
 
Leading off the top of the sixth, Donay put the Gators on the board with a solo home run to center field. Three batters later, Caglianone stepped to the plate and demolished a long ball out of the park to right-center field – tying the all-time NCAA record by homering for the ninth-consecutive game.
 
After working the Orange & Blue out of the fifth, Ryan Slater pitched a clean frame in the sixth to keep Florida within one. Luke McNeillie entered on the heels of a one-out single in the seventh and rolled up a six-three double play to navigate the Gators safely away from damage.
 
Vanderbilt added two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to bring the score to its final tally of 5-2. Colin Barczi drove in Matthew Polk on a sacrifice fly to left field followed by a run-scoring infield single to shortstop by RJ Austin.
 
Coppola dropped to 0-2 after pitching 1 2/3 innings of two-run ball on three hits and one walk. The southpaw fanned one Commodore.
 
Vanderbilt starter Carter Holton (6-1) earned the win on seven innings of two-run ball, allowing four hits and walking zero. He struck out 10.

NOTABLES

• Friday night's official attendance was 3,802.
• Caglianone tied the NCAA record set by Nevada's Tyler Bosetti in 2021 by homering for a ninth-straight game in the sixth inning on Friday night.
  • Caglianone extended his on-base streak to 24 games and hitting streak to 17 games.
  • The big fly marked Caglianone's 23rd of the campaign.
• Donay launched his sixth home run of the season.
• Across the team's last 70 tilts against SEC teams, Florida is 44-26.
  • That includes a 36-23 regular-season mark.
• The Gators are 45-23 in weekend series since the start of last season and 54-26 across their last 27 series.
• Florida is now 147-81-1 all-time vs. Vanderbilt including 57-49-1 in Nashville.
  • The Gators are 34-23 against the Commodores under head coach Kevin O'Sullivan (9-14 away).

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
On falling behind early…
"Yeah, I thought Pierce (Coppola) threw the ball good. They just put some good swings on it. The bottom line is the double steal we drop the ball at third. They never would have scored those two runs in the first. The bottom line is we're finding ways to lose rather than finding ways to win. That certainly, that play there in the first, bottom of the first, was a big one. We fell behind another couple runs there in the first. Jac and Brody put two good swings on the ball and got us within one. Jac tied an NCAA record today for nine home runs in nine-straight games. Congratulations to him. I thought we threw the ball well after that. I thought Ryan threw the ball well after that other than the 0-2 pitch to the nine-hole hitter, gave up the single. He threw some really good right-on-right changeups today. I thought Liam Peterson threw the ball very well. He left one ball out over the plate to (Alan) Espinal but I thought he threw the ball really well. We had Polk at two strikes, and tried to bury a breaking ball, weren't able to do it. Tried to throw a fastball in and he got hit by a pitch. Obviously, we brought the infield in and we gave up a couple runs. The bottom line is we've gotta find ways to win. We just gotta keep riding this thing out."

On creating and maintaining momentum…
"Yeah, the margin of error is extremely small in this league. It's even more difficult when you're on the road. There's no trophies for losing by a couple runs. The bottom line is we've gotta figure out ways to win. This team has had a hard time doing that. You've got Pierce on the mound, who had been rehabbing for the good part of two years and we made a crucial mistake there in the first. I think everybody is pulling for Pierce but we've gotta play better behind him. Unfortunately, that cost us a couple runs. In my opinion, that probably set the tone for the game."
 
On Caglianone tying the NCAA record…
"It's something we've never seen before, honestly. And we've had some really good hitters over the last 16 or 17 years. I think that's one of the most disappointing things as well. Jac's having an incredible year and we're just, like I said, we don't have enough guys behind him. We're not playing good, sound, fundamental baseball. It's been frustrating that we're letting the season he's put together kind of slip away from us. We've just gotta come out tomorrow and we've gotta figure out a way to get a win tomorrow with Jac on the mound and then just battle all the way back. We were close. We said that last night and said it again today. If we figure out a way to win this one we'd have a good chance tomorrow. They used Carter last night and they used him again tonight. We can't do anything about the first two games. What we can do is win tomorrow, get back home to Gainesville and get ready for Tuesday."

UP NEXT
Florida and Vanderbilt face off in the series finale on Saturday, scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.