Missouri baseball defeated the No. 6 Florida Gators 2-1 No. 6 Florida Gators on Saturday, taking two of the first three games of the series. This marked the Tigers first two-game win streak for the Tigers over Florida since 2015.
Florida’s two defeats in a row at Taylor Stadium is also their first series loss of this season. The normally high-powered Gators offense was also held to four runs combined in the first two games of the three-game set.
Great job by our guys to come out and do things that we’ve been asking them to do all year,” Missouri head coach Kerrick Jackson. “We took some losses but we’re moving in the right direction, I think our guys are starting to believe you make adjustments as we go along.”
The Tigers (14-18, 3-8 SEC) offense scored two early runs in the first but a two run spot in the sixth inning was all the offense mustered against the Gators pitching in this contest. Missouri got the big hits when it mattered most.
Jedier Hernandez came to the dish for the Tigers, who were down 3-2 after Jac Caglianone’s fifteenth homer of the year. Hernandez connected on Trevor Peterson’s third pitch for an RBI single up the middle of the infield, scoring Trevor Austin from second base.
Another fortunate event occurred for the Tigers following this hit, as Peterson’s wild pitch to the preceding batter to Hernandez, Matt Garcia, passed by catcher Luke Heyman, scoring Lovich from third.
The Gators threatened to score once again in the top of the eight, after a routine pop fly was lost in the sun by Tigers second baseman Matt Garcia. The result was the two Gator runners on first and third with two outs. Ryan Magdic was able to protect the Tigers lead, when Landon Russell lined out to left in the following at bat.
The idea that we’re never going to make mistakes is foolish,” Jackson said. “It’s about not letting them roll into something else. “Settle, then eliminate compound mistakes.”
The victory was far from being handed to the Tigers on a silver platter, with the last hope for the Gators being the superstar Caglianone. The lefty Madgic proved up to the task, securing a routine flyout to center field that ended the contest.
The Tigers will look to complete the sweep of the Gators on Sunday. Caglianone will be on the bump for Florida, a big challenge for a Tigers offense that’s been battle tested in this series so far.