Gators cruise to sixth straight win at Missouri
The Missouri Tigers scored first but it was all Florida on Friday night. The Gators used a career-long outing from Brandon Sproat and four home runs to take the series opener in Columbia, 13-1.
The win was Florida’s 16th consecutive win over the Tigers (25-20, 7-17 SEC). The last time Florida dropped a game to Missouri was April 5, 2015, in Columbia.
Kevin O’Sullivan sent Brandon Sproat to the mound to open the series. The junior got one out in the first but surrendered a home run to Trevor Austin on a 3-2 count. Sproat flipped a switch after the long ball, retiring the next 11 Tigers he faced. He wouldn’t allow another hit until the sixth inning. Sproat would last 6.2 innings, a career-high, striking out seven Tigers along the way.
“He was really efficient other than the home run he gave up. He pitched really good again,” Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We wanted to try to keep his pitch count right about 90 because it’s going to be a short week on one day’s shorter rest.”
Sproat has gone 5 1/3-plus innings in seven-straight starts. He has thrown five-plus innings in 10-of-13 starts this year while allowing three earned runs or less in nine of those outings.
Offensive explosion
Trailing 1-0, the Gators (31-18, 12-13 SEC) took the lead after a Ty Evans double and Colby Halter home run. Florida used another two-run dinger, off of Josh Rivera’s bat, in the third inning to extend the lead to 4-1. A pair of Missouri errors led to a three-run fourth inning and a 7-1 lead. Then Florida blew the game wide open in the fifth.
Halter was hit by a pitch to start the frame. Wyatt Langford, who reached base safely in each of his first five plate appearances, walked. Sterlin Thompson doubled home Halter. Jud Fabian hit a sac fly and freshman Jac Caglianone hit a ball that may not have landed yet. When the dust settled Florida had a 12-1 lead. Langford hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to cap the scoring.
“I thought this was probably the most complete game we played all year long. We played really good defense. The starting pitching was outstanding. The relief pitching was great. We swung the bats really well,” O’Sullivan said. “It was good to get some help from Josh and Colby early on in the game. Both guys had home runs. It was just a really complete game. Pleased with how we played.”
Gators use the long ball
The Gators powered four home runs starting with Colby Halter’s two-run shot in the second. The homer was Halter’s first since March 25, when he led the LSU series off with a home run. Josh Rivera matched that effort with a two-run shot of his own in the third. Freshman Jac Caglianone launched the most impressive of the bunch, with a 112 exit velocity and an estimated distance of 480-feet. Wyatt Langford joined the group in the sixth inning. The dinger was Langford’s 17th of the season.
“I’m wearing readers right now so I kind of lost it halfway up the building,” O’Sullivan said about Caglianone’s home run after the game. “He ran into it. The players were really excited.”
The Gators’ four home runs on Friday give them 92 on the season, fifth-most in the country. The most home runs a Kevin O’Sullivan team has hit in a single season is 100 (2018).
Next up
Florida will look to take the series on Saturday. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:00 pm. It will be senior day for the Tigers.
Box Score
