Caglianone, Rivera carry Florida past Florida A&M, 3-0 in NCAA Gainesville regional opener

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Josh Rivera hit a two-run home run in the first inning and Florida needed to throw out two runners at the plate in the ninth inning to preserve a 3-0 win over Florida A&M in a first-round game of the NCAA Gainesville Regional on Friday.

The Gators (45-14) advance to face Texas Tech on Saturday. Florida A&M (29-29) takes on UConn in an elimination game.

Jac Caglianone fanned seven, walked three and scattered seven base hits over six innings to earn his seventh win in 10 decisions. Ryan Slater worked two perfect innings in relief. Brandon Neely took over in the ninth to earn his 11th save, but worked a rocky inning. After Slater got the first hitter to fly out to left, Josesph Pierini doubled to left, but was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a single by Will Brown. Brown attempted to score from second on an infield single to short by Ben Kim to end the game.

Starter Caleb Granger (6-5) worked six innings, allowing four hits and walking four while allowing two earned runs.