Florida Baseball: Eyes of the baseball world will be on Jac Caglianone

Florida baseball will be taking on TCU today at 2 PM and can advance to the finals of the College World Series with a win. The Gators are not the primetime matchup; that distinction goes to number one Wake Forest vs number five LSU.

But when the nightly highlights come on, and Scott Van Pelt runs down what happened in the world of sports today, there is a solid chance that Jac Caglianone could be the lead story with a great performance today.

Florida Baseball: Jac, Jac, he’s our man…

Jac-Tani was one of the big storylines heading into Omaha. Through two games, he has been relatively quiet, batting just 1-9, though he did score the winning run against Virginia.

But as we know from watching Caglianone all season long, all it takes is one swing of the bat for him to do something special. 31 times this year, he has hit a home run. 84 times he has driven in a run, and 71 times he has crossed the plate himself.

Caglianone is must-see TV every time he steps up to the plate, but his ability at the plate is only one part of what makes up his stardom.

Today Caglianone gets to showcase the second part of what makes him a star when he steps up on the mound and fires off a fastball that will approach 100 MPH.

And if he can combine a 10-strikeout performance AND hit a homerun 440 feet today, the internet might break.

There is no guarantee that either of those things will happen. Caglianone does have an ERA of 3.78, and three of his past four starts have been solid outings.

Prior to that, though, he didn’t make it past the fourth inning in six of his eight starts.

When Caglianone gets in trouble on the mound is when he struggles to find the strike zone and starts issuing walks. His own experience in the batter’s box in Omaha and watching well-crushed balls die on the warning track of the massive ballpark in Omaha should give him the confidence just to throw strikes and trust the ballpark is going to hold it.

Florida baseball has proven with this tournament run that they are more than just Caglianone and Wyatt Langford. The bottom of the lineup has done as much, if not more, damage as the top.

But for one day, the spotlight will shine the brightest on the one they call Jac-Tani.