Missouri Baseball Walks Off No. 6 Florida for the Series Sweep

Strike after strike, hit after hit, the Tigers fought hard against the Gators.

Missouri made history with that battle, walking off no. 6 Florida 11-10 for their first ever series sweep of the Gators and first SEC series win of the year.

The Tigers' offense kept rolling into game three of the series against the Gators. But the bats stalled out after the fourth inning, allowing the Gators to score nine runs in their drought.

It came down to the ninth inning. Missouri was able to put two on with back-to-back walks and advance them to second and third on a sacrifice bunt. A wild pitch brought the game to one run and a double through the middle from Brock Daniels made it a tie game.

Sophomore left fielder Jeric Curtis’s line drive to center brought the game-winning run home in the ninth. That was his only hit of the game. 

After a leadoff ground out from Curtis, the Tigers got the next two men on via walks. All it took to put the Tigers in the lead to start for the third game in a row was a wild pitch.

Missouri then added on three more runs in the top of the first with junior catcher Jedier Hernandez’s two-out double down the right field line to bring in two. The third run came on Matt Garcia’s single to center that Florida misread and dropped, allowing Hernandez to come home and put the Tigers up by four in the first.

Another three runs came home in the second inning. Sophomore designated hitter Jackson Lovich put a single into left that brought sophomore right fielder Jackson Beaman home. Lovich and senior third baseman Trevor Austin then were able to get an extra base each on a throwing error headed for home that went astray. Center fielder Kaden Peer pushed the final runs of the inning across with a single that cleared the bases.

The last minute decision starter, junior right hander Bryce Mayer, struck out the first two batters he faced in nine pitches and then lost an 11-pitch battle with the third man before he finished the inning by striking out the side. That set the tone for his outing.

Mayer struck out seven in four innings with his only major blemish being the three-run homer that ended with Jackson Beaman bouncing off the wall in an attempt to save it from going over. Missouri’s starter did just enough to keep the Tigers ahead while firing off strikes.

To keep the Tigers ahead, Missouri chose senior Ian Lohse to take the mound. Lohse threw two innings of one-hit ball, that one hit being a two-run homer to Caglianone. He ran into trouble in his third inning, giving up a single, hit-by-pitch and a double to score a run.

Lohse left two on with one out when he was taken out for graduate relief pitcher Jacob Peaden in the top of the seventh. Peaden hit the first batter he faced and then walked in a run to tie the game. While his outing didn’t start the way he wanted, he got out of it when needed with a pop out of Caglianone. But it didn’t last in the eighth inning, he gave up the go-ahead two-run shot to Colby Shelton, his second of the game.

The Tigers came home first in the first inning in all three games against the Gators. In this game, they tied their run high of four in the series by the bottom of the first.

They tagged Florida’s Jac Caglianone for seven runs in 1 1/3 innings, tying a career high for the Gator with six earned runs.

Florida’s defense couldn’t help out Caglianone on the mound. They dropped two routine pop ups, one to shallow right center that three players watched fall and the other to shallow left. But Missouri wasn't helping their pitcher out either. Freshman shortstop Drew Culbertson struggled on a catch and couldn’t make the out. Garcia also dropped a pop up that was fielded by Peer.

The Tigers’ improve to 15-18 on the season and 4-8 in SEC play, while the Gators drop to 17-14 and 6-6 in SEC play. Missouri resumes play on Tuesday, April 9 at 6 p.m. against SIUE. 

How it Happened:

• 3:31 p.m.- Colby Shelton hit his second home run of the game, this one a two-run shot in the top of the eighth to left center. 10-8 Gators
• 3:10 p.m.- Jacob Peaden walks in a run in the top of the seventh. 8-8
• 3:04 p.m.- Jacob Peaden enters the game in relief for Ian Lohse in the top of the seventh. 
• 3:01 p.m.- Tyler Shelnut doubles down the left field line to bring a run in. 8-7 Tigers
• 2:46 p.m.- Jac Caglianone sends off his second home run of the weekend to put two more Gators across. 8-6 Tigers
• 2:26 p.m.- Ian Lohse takes the mound for the Tigers in the top of the fifth. 
• 2:22 p.m.- Kaden Peer singled to right field to score Trevor Austin, who was hit-by-pitch and advanced on a ground out. 8-4 Tigers
• 1:52 p.m.- Jackson Beaman bounces off the right field wall in an attempt to save Colby Shelton's three-run shot from going over the wall. He is not successful. 7-4 Tigers
• 1:45 p.m.- Jac Caglianone is replaced on the mound in the bottom of the second after giving up seven runs, six earned. Blake Purnell enters the game in relief.
• 1:43 p.m.- Jackson Lovich sends single over the shortstops head to bring Jackson Beaman home, runners then advanced on a throwing error. Kaden Peer then singled to bring in Lovich and Trevor Austin. 7-1 Tigers
• 1:28 p.m.- Florida's Luke Heyman sent a homer over the right center wall in the top of the second to put the Gators on the board. 4-1 Tigers
• 1:22 p.m.- Matt Garcia sends a single to shallow center that Florida failed to catch. Jedier Hernandez scored from third in the bottom of the first, after advancing on a wild pitch. 4-0 Tigers
• 1:20 p.m.- Jedier Hernandez laces a two-out double down the right field line to bring in Trevor Austin and Kaden Peer from first, who walked to get on base. 3-0 Tigers
• 1:18 p.m.- After back-to-back walks of Jackson Beaman and Trevor Austin, Jackson Lovich advanced them on a ground out. A wild pitch brought Beaman home in the bottom of the first. 1-0 Tigers
• First pitch is set for 1 p.m.