Luke Heyman went 2-for-4 with a homer and four RBI while Liam Peterson rose to 5-1 in home starts.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida scored six runs in the first and never looked back to thump Missouri, 11-2, in game one at Condron Family Ballpark on Thursday night.
Staying red hot at the dish, Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/17327> (2-for-4) once again led the offensive charge. The UF catcher blasted a three-run homer en route to totaling a team-high four RBI, raising his SEC batting average to .396 in the process. Colby Shelton<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/colby-shelton/17335> (2-for-3) produced his 19th multi-hit effort of the campaign while drilling his SEC-leading 16th double and driving in two runs. On the mound, the relief trio of Caden McDonald<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/caden-mcdonald/17329>, Billy Barlow<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/billy-barlow/17355> and Christian Rodriguez<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/christian-rodriguez/17334> teamed up for four shutout frames of one-hit ball.
UF starting pitcher Liam Peterson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/liam-peterson/17332> struck out two in the top of the first before Heyman gunned down Gehrig Goldbeck attempting to take third on a wild pitch for the final out.
The Gators (22-14, 2-11 SEC) promptly erupted for a six-spot in the home half to jump out to a commanding lead over the Tigers (12-21, 0-13 SEC). Brendan Lawson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brendan-lawson/17350> singled home Bobby Boser<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/bobby-boser/17349>, followed by a three-run shot to left off the bat of Heyman. Blake Cyr<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/blake-cyr/17347> then mashed a 1-1 pitch into the left-field bullpen to make it back-to-back jacks while Hayden Yost<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/hayden-yost/17337> scampered home on a wild pitch after advancing to third on an Ashton Wilson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ashton-wilson/17336> double.
Peterson faced the minimum in the second by inducing a 1-6-3 double play, but ran into trouble in the third. Chris Patterson and Peyton Basler hit back-to-back doubles to put Missouri on the board and a bases-loaded walk of Cayden Nicoletto forced home Basler to cut the UF lead to 6-2. Peterson rebounded for consecutive strikeouts of Pierre Seals and Jackson Lovich to strand the bags loaded.
In the fourth, Peterson worked another clean frame while fanning two more Tigers to increase his strikeout total to six. Florida found the scoring column again in the bottom of the inning, beginning with a bases-loaded, RBI single through the left side by Heyman. With two outs and the bases still juiced, Landon Stripling<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/landon-stripling/17351> came through with a two-run, pinch-hit single through the ride side to push the UF advantage to 9-2.
McDonald assumed pitching duties for the Gators in the sixth, retiring the side in order to keep the seven-run lead intact. McDonald and Barlow combined for a zero in the seventh, as the latter stranded the bases-loaded by inducing a lineout and groundout to second base.
Florida struck again in the seventh to come within one run of the mercy rule at 11-2. Justin Nadeau<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/justin-nadeau/17342> and Boser set the table with singles while Shelton plated both runners with a two-run double off the right-field wall.
Barlow remained on the hill for a scoreless eighth before handing the ball off to Rodriguez in the ninth. Rodriguez faced four batters, walking one and striking out three to cement the victory for the Orange & Blue.
Peterson (5-2) registered the victory after five strong innings of two-run ball. The sophomore right-hander gave up five hits and four walks while fanning seven Tigers.
Missouri starter Brady Kehlenbrink (0-3) was charged with the loss, forfeiting six earned runs over three innings. The southpaw finished with six hits allowed, two walks and four strikeouts.
Boser (2-for-3), Shelton, Heyman and Wilson (2-for-5) recorded multi-hit games in the win.
NOTABLES
* The Gators have now won 16-straight home games against Missouri.
* Florida’s six runs in the first marked the team’s most in the game’s opening frame this season.
* It also represented Florida’s first time scoring five or more runs in a frame prior to the fourth inning.
* Heyman and Cyr hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, marking Florida’s first set of consecutive homers since Boser and Shelton accomplished the feat vs. Vanderbilt on April 6 of last weekend.
* It marked Heyman’s seventh homer of the campaign.
* Cyr connected for his fifth home run of the year.
* Heyman finished 2-for-4 with one homer, a team-high four RBI and two runs scored.
* Heyman is now slashing .396/.463/.792 with a 1.255 OPS, five homers and 15 RBI in 13 SEC games.
* Across UF’s last nine games overall, Heyman is 17-for-34 (.500) with four homers and three doubles.
* Peterson earned his fifth win of the season, improving to 5-1 in six home starts.
* In those six home starts, Peterson owns a 2.01 ERA, .200 batting average against and 47-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
* Nine different Gators collected a hit.
* The relief tandem of McDonald (1 1/3), Barlow (1 2/3) and Rodriguez (1.0) combined for four shutout, one-hit innings of relief.
* Shelton has reached safely in 35 of 36 contests this season.
* Shelton produced his team-high 19th multi-hit game.
* Shelton hit his SEC-leading 16th double.
* Boser has reached base safely in 16-straight games.
* Florida improved to 32-8 all-time against Missouri including 20-1 at home.
* The Gators are 27-7 overall and 16-0 in Gainesville in the series under O’Sullivan.
* Friday night ‘s official attendance was 4,962.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On setting the tone in the first inning…
“Yeah, I mean obviously a rough weekend last weekend. Offensively, we scored more runs in the first inning than we did the whole last weekend. So, moved some things around in the lineup obviously. Two main things, I just got to a point where I hate writing Lawson in the fifth spot. I just wanted to kind of move him up a couple spots to maybe get an extra at bat or so during the game and then obviously, you know, Justin has been struggling a little bit, so kind of flip-flopped him. But no, it was a game we needed to get to get off on the right foot for the weekend. So, pleased with how we swung the bats, especially early.”
On the message to the team…
“…I did the in-game [interview] and I told them, they asked me what the message is, and the message is I firmly believe that we’re going to get this thing turned around, I really do. You know, I feel a lot better now than I did maybe a week ago because I think we would all agree that maybe we found the guy at the end of game, and we won’t let some of these games get away in the last three innings or so. And like I said, we’ve got two really quality starters and hopefully we can develop a third. With the lineup changes, obviously tonight it seemed to click a little bit better.”
On Heyman’s torrid stretch at the plate…
“He’s been swinging the bat really well since the Ole Miss series, quite honestly, and he’s been catching really good. I think that’s probably one of the most underrated parts of his game, his receiving has gotten a lot better and he can throw and he’s really accurate, so he controls a running game really well.”
UP NEXT
The Gators and Tigers meet in game two on Friday, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.
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