After two thrilling wins over the No. 6 ranked Florida Gators (6-6 SEC), the Missouri Tigers (4-8 SEC) must’ve carried all the confidence in the world into today’s series finale, ultimately winning 11-10 at home.

The Tigers’ confidence seemed infectious in the bottom of the ninth, when Missouri erased a 10-8 deficit and walked off the Gators on a Jeric Curtis single. 

With the win, Missouri claimed its first sweep over the Gators and its first in any series three games or longer this season. This was also the first time Florida landed on fthe wrong side of a sweep since April 20-23, 2023 in a series at then-No. 6 South Carolina. 

The biggest story entering this game was undoubtedly Jac Caglianone, Florida’s two-way superstar. He made the start on the bump and hit second in the Gator lineup. Fans and scouts aplenty showed up to Taylor Stadium to watch him perform, as they have all season.

Missouri quickly flipped the script on his afternoon in an inning and a third, which was aided by quite a few defensive miscues. The sun shined brightly right overhead, and fielders struggled catching even routine fly balls. However, after Missouri starter Bryce Mayer struck out the side in the top of the first, the Tigers’ lineup quickly got to work.

In both Friday and Saturday’s games, Curtis led off with a base hit and scored. This time, the offense was sparked by Caglianone’s early wildness. He walked Jackson Beaman and Trevor Austin, setting up a Jedier Hernandez double that plated both. Matt Garcia then took advantage of the sun-kissed sky with a high fly ball that eventually found its way into the outfield grass, just out of the reach of second baseman Cade Kurland to make it 4-0 after one.

The Tigers kept swinging in the second. Beaman singled, and then Trevor Austin hit another lazy fly, this time to left field, that was misplayed by Tyler Shelnut. Jackson Lovich and Kaden Peer made good on the scoring chance with RBI singles to extend the lead to 7-1, the latter of which ended Caglianone’s time on the mound.

The Gators weren’t done. Both teams battled back and forth, and on a day where the wind was blowing out hard to left-center, balls were flying. Colby Shelton hit a three-run blast to right in the third, and after Ian Lohse took over for Mayer on the mound, Caglianone followed up with another homer of the two-run variety in the sixth to cut the deficit to 8-6. The Gators knotted things up in the seventh on a Shelnut double and a bases-loaded walk from pinch-hitter Armando Albert. 

The Tigers had a golden opportunity to take the lead right back in the bottom of the seventh, putting runners on the corners with only one out. However, Garcia’s fly ball with one out was not deemed deep enough to score Peer from third according to Missouri third base coach Bryson LeBlanc. Culbertson then grounded out to end the threat.

With all the momentum on Florida’s side, Colby Shelton walked up to the plate with a home run under his belt already. Ty Evans led off the inning with a single, and Shelton made sure he wasn’t standing there very long. He demolished a Jacob Peaden curveball way out to left-center to give Florida its first lead of the day at 10-8. The Gator bench erupted after it cleared the wall and Shelton ran into a series of chest bumps and high-fives after crossing home plate.

Missouri decided to wait until the ninth to get the runs back. 

Cade Fisher led off the ninth on the bump for Florida, and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. He walked Peer on six pitches and Hernandez on four. Then, Missouri coach Kerrick Jackson made an interesting decision. He called for Garcia to lay down a sacrifice bunt, which ultimately worked out. Mateo Serna struck out after a wild pitch scored Peer, which left pinch-runner Tucker Moore on third with two outs.

Then, it was (who else?) Brock Daniels’ time to shine.

He ripped an 0-1 offering from Luke McNeillie into right-center for a game-tying hustle double, which ended up being crucial to what happened next.

Daniels has been on a blistering tear over his last five starts, going 9-19 over that span. 

“Being able to cut down on the chase (has helped Daniels),” Jackson said.

 Curtis, then stepped into the box knowing a single would be enough to drive in Daniels and complete the sweep. However, he had been 0-5 on the day and immediately got behind in a 2-2 hole. That’s when McNeillie made a mistake, leaving a breaking ball over the heart of the plate. Curtis didn’t get all of it, but sent out a soft liner into shallow center where Armando Albert raced onward in a desperate attempt to get any part of his glove on the ball.

For just a second, it appeared as if he was successful.

Then the white sphere materializedas it trickled out to the right of Albert’s glove, and the Missouri Tigers poured out of the dugout, mobbing Curtis as he rounded first base. In the postgame presser, Curtis spoke about the approach he used in the at-bat even after the previous struggles.

“Baseball’s all about confidence,” Curtis said. “If I went 0-10 I still would go up there like I went 10-10.”

The Tigers will now look to carry the momentum of this season-defining sweep into a midweek showdown at home against SIUE before traveling to Athens to take on Georgia. The Gators will try to rebound against Florida State on Tuesday before avenging last year’s sweep in the hands of South Carolina.