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Jac Caglianone, Gator baseball GOAT, faces his dreaded day as Florida’s season ends

Andrew Olson

By Andrew Olson

Published:

Jac Caglianone’s historic career came to a close on Wednesday night in Omaha, as Florida’s season ended with a 6-0 loss to Texas A&M in the College World Series.

Caglianone departs Florida as the baseball program’s GOAT and has a strong case to belong on a UF athletics “Mount Rushmore” of Gator greats who have worn orange and blue.

Caglianone became a national star as a sophomore, helping the Gators to the College World Series and setting the NCAA’s BBCOR-era record with 33 home runs in 2023. (Georgia’s Charlie Condon broke the record in 2024 with 37.)

In a year in which Florida played 5 fewer games and Caglianone’s at-bats decreased from 282 to 248, he bested his own record-breaking season with 35 homers in 2024. More than just a slugger, Caglianone also had a .419 batting average and .544 on-base percentage as a junior.

Thanks to 7 home runs as a freshman playing in 28 games in 2022, Caglianone’s 35th homer of the season was No. 75 of his career, topping Gator great Matt LaPorta, who was on hand in Omaha to see the record fall.

Most in the college baseball world won’t ever consider Kevin O’Sullivan’s Florida team, a frequent visitor to Omaha, an underdog. The 2024 Gators, though, fit the bill after spending weeks on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

A 3-seed in the Stillwater Regional, Florida’s path to the College World Series included four road wins over national seeds No. 11 Oklahoma State and No. 6 Clemson. UF also had to twice best Big Ten Tournament champion Nebraska.

Winning an NCAA Regional out of the loser’s bracket involves three victories in win-or-go-home games. The Gators went 3-0 with their backs against the wall in the Stillwater Regional to advance to the Clemson Super Regional.

There were many heroes in Florida’s NCAA Tournament run. Ashton Wilson emerged with a hot bat after spending most of the season on the bench. A pitching staff that had the worst ERA in the SEC turned it around in the postseason.

Relievers Fisher Jameson, Jake Clemente, Cade Fisher and Frank Menendez all logged key outs. Brandon Neely, who finished a rough 2024 regular season with a 6.55 ERA, flipped a switch in the NCAA Tournament, going 24 postseason innings, striking out 38 while allowing only 5 earned runs.

Most importantly, though, the Gators had Caglianone.

In the NCAA Tournament, Caglianone was 16-of-36, good for a .444 average, with 6 home runs, 16 runs scored, 4 doubles and 14 RBIs. When it comes to Caglianone’s stats, at-bats and plate appearances vary widely. He walked 17 times in the tourney, including 13 intentional walks.

For the second year in a row, the Cags Factor was on display in Omaha for a national audience. He made fools of those who snubbed him from being a Golden Spikes finalist.

Wednesday night was rough for the Florida offense, but Caglianone managed to rewrite the program record books one last time. On a 4-hit night for the Gators, Caglianone was the only UF batter with multiple hits.

Caglianone’s second single was hit No. 104 of his career, tying Florida’s single-season record.

With the 27th out recorded, the future first-round draft pick had to face the harsh reality that he had played his last game as a Gator.

“It’s tough. I gave all I had to this program. I can’t thank the coaching staff enough for what they’ve done for me,” Caglianone told WESH’s Daren Stoltzfus on the field postgame.

“I dread the day I’d have to take this jersey off for the last time. I guess that’s tonight. But I guess I just wasn’t mentally ready for it.”

For Gator Nation, it’s just as hard to say goodbye to Caglianone.

It wasn’t too long ago that it looked like Florida’s 2024 campaign would come to a close in May at the end of the regular season or the SEC Tournament. Cags made sure the Gators kept playing deep into June, and gave us more unforgettable moments along the way.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.

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