Around the Horn: Florida Gators beat UNF, prepare for Missouri Tigers
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The No. 4 Florida Gators got back on track back at Condron Ballpark on Tuesday night with a 6-2 win over UNF. The win halted a three-game slide and sets the Gators up for another SEC weekend tilt against the Missouri Tigers.
Right-hander Yoel Tejada picked up his second-straight win with four shutout innings in a controlled start while freshman catcher Luke Heyman (2-for-4) drove in two runs and smacked a solo homer.
Following the conclusion of a 47-minute weather delay, Tejeda Jr. got to work by stranding two in the first while striking out a pair. The Gators (32-10, 11-7 SEC) then jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom half, as Wyatt Langford doubled and later scored on an RBI single to right by Josh Rivera.
Heyman added on to the advantage in the second, sending an 0-2 offering out of the ballpark to straightaway left field. The blast marked his eighth of the season.
Florida put another run on the Ospreys (22-19, 8-10 ASUN) in the third to make it 3-0. Jac Caglianone doubled to right field and eventually crossed home on a sacrifice fly in foul territory down the left-field line by BT Riopelle.
What went right?
Wyatt Langford slid into the two-hole in the lineup and BT Riopelle ended an 0-14 slump with a big RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning. Florida’s pitchers struck out 10 Osprey batters. Florida has struck out 446 batters in 360 innings – translating to 11.2 per nine innings.Tejeda won his second-straight game while tying his career high with four strikeouts.Luke Heyman swatted his eighth homer of the year.
What went wrong?
Not much. The Gators were able to get some hits from guys that needed them and the pitching staff limited the walks to just three.
Gators who came up big
Wyatt Langford — 2-4, 2B, 2 RLuke Heyman — 2-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBIYoel Tejada — 4 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 KRyan Slater — 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, SAVE
Big picture
The Gators avoided a midweek slip-up, which not every top-ten team can say on Tuesday.
No. 1 LSU lost to Nicholls 6-5.
Sixth-ranked Coastal Carolina fell 11-2 to No. 2 Wake Forest.
No. 7 Arkansas lost to Missouri State 8-4.
No. 15 Kentucky lost to No. 21 Louisville 7-0.
The Gators needed a “feel-good game” after being swept by South Carolina. It wasn’t a perfect game and the Gators’ offense didn’t tear the cover off the ball, but they did enough to win. It’s late in the season and
What’s next?
The Gators host Missouri in a three-game weekend series from Friday, April 28 through Sunday, April 30. Games one and two are scheduled for 7 p.m. with the latter matchup airing on SEC Network. Sunday’s series finale is on the books for 1 p.m.
Missouri is just 5-13 in the SEC and 23-16 on the season. They have a 6-9 record away from home. The SEC has proven and continues to prove each weekend how competitive the league is. You can’t take any opponent lightly but this is a series that Florida should feel good about.
Key Quote
Kevin O’Sullivan on moving Cade Kurland to leadoff…
“A lot of things go into those decisions. It’s not just moving Cade up, it’s maybe trying to get Wyatt to feel a little more comfortable and push everyone down one spot. I don’t have all the answers right now. Obviously, we’re not swinging the bat as well as he had the entire year, but we’ll see. It’s obviously still a work in progress. There’s a lot of different things that went into it. This past weekend we didn’t swing the bats as well as we had been the entire year, so we tried to tinker. But at the end of the day, your best guys got to hit regardless of if the hit one, two, three, four, or five. I think BT’s at bat in the eighth was huge. Left on left in a one-run ballgame and he comes in and gets a really big hit. That was really important for him and it was important for us.”
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