Florida opened up a must-win series against the Missouri Tigers with an 11-2 victory on Thursday night.
The Gators' offense jumped out to a 6-0 lead before recording an out. Bobby Boser started things off with a leadoff walk, Colby Shelton singled up the middle and Brendan Lawson plated the first run of the day with an opposite field single to left.
Luke Heyman took a chip-shot swing on a changeup left on the outside corner and got all barrel. The ball cleared the left-field wall on a line for Heyman's seventh of the season. Blake Cyr went back-to-back with Heyman, crushing the ball even further, 394 feet with a 107 mph exit velocity. Hayden Yost singled after a Brody Donay strikeout, Ashton Wilson doubled off the base of the wall in the right-center, and Yost scored on a wild pitch with Justin Nadeau at the plate.
Coupla Gator taters 馃#GoGators // @Dream_Finderspic.twitter.com/KhPgSJQYNo
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) April 10, 2025
Liam Peterson earned the win on five innings of two-run ball for Florida. Early on, Peterson's fastball looked dominant, reaching up to 98 mph and drawing plenty of swing and miss. Missouri figured things out in the third, though, and led off the inning with back-to-back doubles. Two of Peterson's four walks came in the third, including one with the bases loaded. Consecutive strikeouts got Florida out of the inning and kept the bullpen at bay.
Peterson turned things around after that, retiring six of seven batters in the fourth and fifth innings. A leadoff walk in the fifth could have been trouble, but Peterson pitched to contact well, drawing two weak grounders to second base around a clutch strikeout.
Missouri's starter, Brady Kehlenbrink, had a much different night. He gave up all six of those runs in the first and then retired eight of the next nine batters he faced. The only baserunner Kehlenbrink allowed after the six runs scored came on a four-pitch walk to Yost. It's not the outing he or Missouri head coach Kerrick Jackson wanted, but it's better than rolling over after a bad start.
Despite Kehlenbrink's turnaround, Brock Lucas took over for Missouri in the fourth. Boser doubled with one out and a pair of walks loaded the bases for Heyman, who poked one through the left side to bring in a seventh run. Landon Striplin pinch hit for Donay and singled off the first baseman's glove to score two more. It looked like a routine play for Missouri, but the ricochet went right past the second baseman and into the outfield.
Lando delivers! 馃殮
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) April 11, 2025
Two-run, pinch-hit single for 1锔忊儯3锔忊儯#GoGators // SECN pic.twitter.com/YGhYrDHgdy
Lucas worked around a couple of baserunners in the fifth and one more in the sixth, but Florida didn't hit him well. The Gators took a lot of swings early in the count, but none of them ever dropped in for hits.
Caden McDonald was the first out of the bullpen for Florida. He speed ran the sixth with just 10 pitches, but a leadoff walk and one-out single brought Billy Barlow ...
