GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Fueled by a six-run first inning and a strong effort by its pitching staff, Florida claimed an 11-2 victory from University of Missouri baseball in the opening game of the two clubs’ Southeastern Conference series Thursday evening at Condron Family Ballpark.
Luke Heyman homered and drove in four runs to power Florida’s 13-hit attack, while starting pitcher Liam Peterson limited Mizzou (12-21, 0-13 SEC) to a pair of runs over the first five innings to give the Gators’ offense time to build a seven-run lead.
The Gators (22-14, 2-11 SEC) seized control of the contest by scoring five times before the Tigers recorded the first out of the game, as Heyman and Blake Cyr hit back-to-back home runs to drive the rally. After Bobby Boser drew a leadoff walk from Mizzou starter Brady Kehlenbrink, singles by Colby Shelton and Brendan Lawson put the Gators on the board and set the stage for Heyman’s three-run blast to left. Cyr followed his fifth long ball of the season, before a Hayden Yost single, a double by Ashton Wilson and a wild pitch brought home the sixth Florida run of the inning.
Kehlenbrink (0-3) rebounded to strike out the side in the first, starting a stretch over which the freshman left-hander retired eight of the last nine batters he faced, including a string of seven in a row.
Mizzou’s offense roared to life in the third, as doubles by Chris Patterson and Peyton Basler sparked the Tigers’ first scoring threat of the night. Basler’s liner into the right-field corner chased Patterson home, before a walk and a Gehrig Goldbeck single loaded the bases with nobody out. Following a pop foul for the first out of the inning, Cayden Nicoletto drew a walk to force home the second MU run.
But Peterson (5-2) extinguished the rally with back-to-back strikeouts, then retired the Tigers in order in the fourth with two more of his seven strikeouts on the night. The right-hander scattered two runs on five hits over 5.0 innings and, like Kehlenbrink, dispatched eight of the final nine hitters he faced before handing the ball off to Caden McDonald to start the sixth.
Florida’s offense added to its cushion with a three-run fourth, as Heyman drove in his fourth run of the game with a base hit, before Landon Stripling’s pinch-hit single plated two more Gators for a 9-2 lead.
McDonald combined with fellow relievers Billy Barlow and Christian Rodriguez to blank the Tigers on just one hit over the last four innings. The trio struck out six hitters, allowing only a seventh-inning single by Keegan Knutson over the same span.
Goldbeck turned in a 2-for-4 effort to record his fifth multi-hit performance as a Tiger, while Knutson reached base safely in three of his four trips to the plate.
TIGER NOTEBOOK
- Knutson extended his hit streak to a career-best six games with his seventh-inning single, finishing the night 1-for-2 with a pair of walks to pace the Mizzou offense.
- Brock Lucas matched a career best with 5.0 innings of relief for Mizzou.
- With his third-inning double, Patterson extended his hit streak to four games, matching a career best.
- After surrendering six hits in the Gators’ first-inning rally, Kehlenbrink held Florida hitless over his final two innings, allowing just one baserunner via a two-out walk in the third.
- Missouri drops to 8-32 all-time vs. Florida, including a 1-20 record against the Gators in Gainesville.
- The Tigers fell to 0-7 at Condron Family Ballpark.
UP NEXT
Mizzou continues its three-game series with the Gators Friday evening with a 5:30 p.m. contest at Condron Family Ballpark.
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