Caden McDonald earns pair of national honors after two-way performance

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida Gators right-handed pitcher/designated hitter Caden McDonald received a pair of national honors on Tuesday after his historic two-way performance during the team’s series win at Oklahoma. The redshirt sophomore earned John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Week honors from the College Baseball Foundation and was named to Baseball America’s National Team of the Week.

McDonald has now been included in Baseball America’s National Team of the Week for two weeks in a row, while Tuesday was his first time being announced as the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Week.

McDonald led Florida to a series-tying 10-5 victory on Saturday at the plate and on the mound. He went 4-for-5 with two homers, two doubles, six RBI and three runs while shoving 3.0 shutout innings of relief to earn the win. McDonald is the first Gator to hit two jacks and throw three scoreless innings since Caglianone against Siena in 2023.

“This is one to remember for sure,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said of McDonald’s performance. “He was four for five, six RBIs, pitched three scoreless and only gave up one infield hit, four strikeouts. I mean, you just do not see that very often.

“Going back to an offensive performance of like Preston Tucker type stuff from way back in the day. Wyatt Langford, that type of stuff, Jac Caglianone. Just an unbelievable offensive performance. Then to go out there as well in a tough situation with the bases loaded, with two outs and get a ground ball and throw three scoreless, I can’t say enough about him.”

For the weekend, McDonald batted .462/.500/1.077 while going 6-for-13 during the three-game set with 14 total bases, two home runs, two doubles, six RBI, five runs scored and one walk. He led the team against Oklahoma in hits, total bases, batting average, slugging percentage, homers, doubles, RBI and runs to go along with his relief effort.

McDonald is now slashing .394/.444/.848 on the season with four home runs, three doubles, 11 RBI and seven runs while working to a 4-1 record, 3.24 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, .258 batting average against and 32-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 33.1 innings pitched. All four of his homers have come in Florida’s last six games since he was moved to the starting DH role.

McDonald and the No. 13 Gators (31-17, 13-11 SEC) open a four-game homestand on Tuesday night against North Florida. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.

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