Lightning Strikes: Caglianone’s Nine-Game HR Streak Ties NCAA Record…

Jac Caglianone, a two-way star from Florida, blasted a home run in nine straight games, propelling him into the NCAA record book. The run began on April 7 against Missouri and ended on Saturday against Vanderbilt. It tied the record set by Nevada’s Tyler Bosetti in 2021.

Throughout the nine games, Caglianone was 15 for 34 (.441) with nine home runs and sixteen RBIs. He is batting.401 on the season, second in the country in home runs (23) and eighth in slugging (.854).

On Saturday, he went 0-for-3 in a 6-2 victory against Vanderbilt, ending his run. In the top of the ninth, with one out and a runner on second base and the Gators leading 4-2, he was intentionally walked in his last plate appearance.

Despite not hitting a home run, Cags pitched five innings and gave up six hits and two earned runs to win the game. After nine starts, he is now 5-0 with a 3.86 ERA. He is only allowing opponents to hit.201 against them.

With an RPI of 35, Florida is 20-19 overall, 8-10 in the SEC, and has dropped the first two games of the series.

Starting pitcher JD Thompson of Vanderbilt was removed from the game on Sunday in the top of the fourth inning for using an object that wasn’t his own (it was thought to be a mixture of sunscreen and rosin). Normally, the offense carries a four-game punishment; but, as of Monday morning, the SEC had not issued a decision.

In and around the horn

The marquee series of the weekend did not disappoint.

Tennessee took two out of three from Kentucky in Lexington in a battle of top-five SEC East teams. The Wildcats opened the weekend with a 5-3 win on Friday night to improve their conference record to an astounding 15-1, but Tennessee answered with wins of 9-4 and 13-11 to claim the series.

Sunday’s game featured 10 home runs between the two teams, including three by Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore and two by Kentucky third baseman Mitchell Daly.

Kentucky, now 15-3 in the SEC, still has the best overall record in the league and holds a three-game lead over Tennessee in the SEC East.

With four teams now in the top 10 of the RPI, the ACC has had an excellent season. But Tuesday was a forgettable one for the league, as eight of the twelve teams playing lost in the middle of the week. This is the carnage:

UNCW 8, Wake Forest 5
Campbell 11, NC State 7 (12 innings)
Coastal Carolina 5, North Carolina 4
Mercer 13, Florida State 6
Auburn 12, Georgia Tech 8
Old Dominion 7, Virginia 4
West Virginia 6, Pittsburgh 3
Kentucky 17, Louisville 13

In the D1 Baseball top 25 from last week, four of the eight teams that suffered defeat were placed in the top 12: Florida State, Wake Forest, Virginia, North Carolina, and No. 10.

After Boston College swept them at home in late March, Georgia Tech fell to 3-6 in the ACC. Since then, the Yellow Jackets have won three straight series and are making a comeback to the NCAA Tournament picture.

With a strong offense that has averaged 13.4 runs in its last five ACC games, Danny Hall’s club is winning. The Jackets, who took two of three against Virginia over the weekend, are now 24-14 overall and 9-9 in the ACC. In Sunday’s 17-12 victory, rookie Drew Burress finished 4-for-6 with a home run and two RBIs.

With a three-game sweep of Washington State, Arizona increased their Pac-12 winning run to ten games. With a 13-5 record, Arizona currently holds sole possession of first place. Brendan Summerhill, the team’s center fielder, hit a team-high.366 after going a combined 7-for-11 with three RBIs in the three games.

The Wildcats lead Oregon State by 2.5 games and lead Oregon by two games.

Oregon State continues to have transportation issues when participating in Pac-12 games. The Beavers, who entered the weekend ranked sixth in the nation, had lost their previous six away league games following their sweeping of California.

In contrast, Cal has won eight straight games, including six in a row within the Pac-12. The Bears are 11-10 in the conference and 24-14 overall.

After losing three straight weekend series in the middle of the season, Oklahoma bounced back to reclaim the top spot in the Big 12. The Sooners improved to 24-14 overall and 14-4 in the Big 12 with back-to-back sweeps, this past weekend at BYU and at home against Kansas State.

Oklahoma leads the league in batting average (.317), on-base percentage (.410), and slugging percentage (.545) just in conference games.

After dominating Liberty at home over the weekend, Western Kentucky is still at the top of the Conference USA rankings. Under second-year coach Marc Rardin, the Hilltoppers are 29-12 overall and 11-4 in the league, with series victories against Dallas Baptist and Sam Houston State.

With starters Cam Leiter and Conner Whittaker sidelined, Florida State lost two of three games against Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, suffering its lone series loss of the year.

Two of the best pitchers in the country, Chase Burns from Wake and Jamie Arnold from FSU, faced off in the opening game on Friday night, with the Demon Deacons winning 5-4. Burns gave up three earned runs and seven hits in five innings, while Arnold gave up three runs and five hits in five and a third innings. Neither ace was performing at his peak.

In a doubleheader on Saturday, the teams split: Wake won Game 2 10-9 on a walk-off wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning, while the Seminoles won Game 1 9-6.

Earlier in the week, FSU coach Link Jarrett said Leiter and Whittaker ought to be back in the lineup shortly.

After sweeping West Virginia in Lubbock over the weekend, Texas Tech is back in the running for the Big 12 title. One week after allowing nine runs in a series loss at TCU, the Red Raiders only gave up seven runs in three games.

With a record of 12-9 in conference play, Texas Tech trails Oklahoma by 3.5 games and Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and Texas by 1.5 games.

UConn’s dominant weekend sweep of Georgetown vaulted them into first place in the Big East. The Huskies are still 20-18 overall because of some early setbacks against a challenging nonconference schedule, but they have improved to 7-2 in the league after winning all three of their games versus the Hoyas by a total of four runs.

After suffering its first series loss of the year, Arkansas won two of three games at South Carolina and then swept Texas Tech in two games played in Fayetteville over the week.

Hagen Smith allowed only two hits and one earned run while striking out 11 in six innings in Friday’s 2-1 win. Smith leads all starters nationally in ERA (1.53) and batting average against (.136). In SEC games only, he is 6-0 in six starts with a 1.25 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 30 innings.

Lastly, although…

• On Sunday, Bowling Green’s pursuit of MAC perfection came to an end when they lost 4-2 to Ohio at home. After their first 17 league games, the Falcons had won.

• Following their rout at Coppin State, Maryland-Eastern Shore is now 0-33 overall and 0-18 in the Northeast Conference.

• Charlie Condon, the slugger for Georgia, went 7-for-14 with two home runs to help the Bulldogs defeat Ole Miss in a series. In terms of batting average (.483) and home runs (26), Condon tops the country.

• In Craig Gibson’s 21 seasons at Mercer, the team that defeated Florida State in Tallahassee is now 12-4 versus teams ranked in the top 10.

@CraigGibson_MU is now 12-4 vs Top 10 rated teams after last night’s victory over #8 Florida State. #GoodToGreat | #WinnersWin pic.twitter.com/zBVPeUPsaq

— April 17, 2024, Mercer Baseball (@MercerBaseball)

• After winning two of three games at Northeastern over the weekend, UNC Wilmington is currently tied for first place in the CAA with a 12-3 record. The preseason favorite to win the conference, Northeastern, is down two games to UNCW and Charleston.

• Oakland University’s John Lauinger and Reggie Bussey may have the best catch of the year in college baseball..

This is as good of a catch as you will EVER see by @Jackson_Isaiah6. pic.twitter.com/U03LkPDVdq

— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) April 21, 2024