The No. 1 Florida Gators (21-1, 3-0 SEC) withstood a four run sixth inning by the Missouri Tigers (14-9, 0-3 SEC) to finish off the opening weekend of conference play with a sweep. The Gators’ 7-5 win on Sunday was its 15th consecutive win this season and the 23rd consecutive win dating back to last season — one shy of a school record.
Florid jumped on the board early. Dalton Guthrie shook off an 0-5 game on Saturday with a lead off single and Buddy Reed blasted his second home run of the season to left field, giving Florida a 2-0 advantage.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the team,” Reed, who came into the game 2-12 on the week said when asked about his home run.” I know guys are going to pick me up even when I’m not doing well, and when I’m doing well, I’m going to have to pick other guys up. It’s always a team effort start to finish – pitching, offense and defense.”
Alex Faedo took the momentum of his career-high 13-strikeout game against Harvard into Sunday’s ballgame. Faedo struck out six of the first seven batters he faced before allowing a hit to Missouri catcher Brett Bond. Connor Brumfield drove Bond in with a single to cut Florida’s lead in half in the third inning.
The Gators answered Missouri’s run with three of its own. Buddy Reed singled with one out in the bottom of the third, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After a JJ Schwarz walk Reed scored on Pete Alonso’s double down the left field line. Mike Rivera drove both runners in with a two-out double, but had to leave the game after a collision sliding into second base. X-Rays were negative and Rivera is thought to be considered day-to-day moving forward.
Florida added an insurance run in the fourth. Nelson Maldonado led the inning off with a triple to center field, the ball landing at the base of the wall just under the 400-foot marker and scored two batters later on a Guthrie sacrifice fly.
The Gators held a commanding 5-1 lead and Faedo was cruising into the sixth inning before things unraveled. Faedo plunked Ian Nelson with his first offering and Brumfield sacrificed Nelson over to second with a well-placed bunt. Ryan Howard singled to give Missouri runners on the corners with one out before Jake Rings double gave the Tigers another run and left two runners in scoring position. Trey Harris grounded out to India at third, but another run was pushed across. Zach Lavy doubled home the third run of the game and that was all she wrote for Faedo’s afternoon. Kirby Snead replaced Faedo, allowing an RBI single to Brian Sharp before Sharp was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double. In total Missouri touched Florida for four runs on four hits and made it a contest again.
“First of all, compliment Missouri. They very easily could have not battled for the rest of the second half of the ballgame,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “They were down 6-1 and put together a really good inning there in the sixth off of Alex (Faedo) and Kirby (Snead) and had some really good swings with two outs.
JJ Schwarz gave Florida some breathing room in the bottom of the eighth; his first hit of the day, a double, scored Jonathan India. Shaun Anderson came on in the ninth to close the game out, a feat he accomplished in just eight pitches. It was Anderson’s fourth appearance of the week and his third save on the season.
PITCHERS OF THE WEEK
A.J. Puk: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, 1 win
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Shaun Anderson: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 2 saves, 1 win
Hitter of the week
Mike Rivera 6-12 including his team leading fifth home run of the season against Missouri on Saturday.