UF BSB: Langford, Neely Shine as No. 4 Gators Sweep Tigers

Florida won its 10th series of the season including its fifth sweep to improve to 14-7 in SEC play.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The fourth-ranked Florida Gators swept their fifth series of the season with an 8-7 victory over Missouri at Condron Family Ballpark on Sunday afternoon.

Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497> (4-for-5) paced the squad with four hits, finishing a triple shy of the cycle while swatting a solo home run and two doubles. Closer Brandon Neely<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-neely/15499> was dominant in relief for the second-straight game, posting a two-inning save with three strikeouts to improve to nine-for-nine in save opportunities.

After a scoreless inning from starter Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/15489>, the Gators (35-10, 14-7 SEC) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. On a 3-2 count, Langford hit a 425-foot moonshot to left-center field for his 10th home run of the campaign.

Florida tacked on two more in the second, starting with back-to-back doubles by Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/15522> and Colby Halter<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/colby-halter/15495>. After advancing to third on a failed pickoff attempt, Halter scored on a sacrifice fly to left-center off the bat of Tyler Shelnut<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-shelnut/15515> – his eighth RBI of the series.

The Tigers (24-19, 5-16 SEC) loaded up the bases in the fourth, forcing the Orange & Blue to turn to Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/15513> out of the bullpen. The southpaw induced a double play with Hank Zeisler crossing home, then forced an inning-ending flyout to center to escape the jam with a 3-1 edge intact.

In the bottom of the fifth, Caglianone uncorked his nation-leading 25th home run of the year to increase the UF lead to 4-1. The blast brought Caglianone within one homer of tying the program record.

Fisher remained in command, firing scoreless frames in the fifth and sixth to maintain the Gator advantage. The Tigers eventually plated a pair in the seventh on a two-run double down the right-field line by Trevor Austin.

Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/15514> had a response ready, smacking his 13th homer of the season on a 1-1 offering in the bottom of the seventh. Florida made it 8-3 before the inning was over, as Heyman produced a sacrifice fly to center followed by a Halter RBI double to left.

Missouri did not go quietly, battling back with four runs in the top of the eighth. Matt Garcia drove in two with a single to left-center while Cam Chick singled in Ty Wilsmsmeyer and Ross Lovich plated Garcia with a sac fly to center.

Florida relied on Neely to escape the eighth, then turned to the sophomore right-hander to close it out in the ninth. Neely worked a scoreless ninth to secure the series sweep and his SEC-leading ninth save of the season.

Fisher (4-0) earned the victory, allowing two earned runs across 3 1/3 frames on two hits and one walk. He struck out one.

Missouri starting pitcher Logan Lunceford (3-4) was saddled with the defeat, forfeiting four runs (three earned) on seven hits and one walk while striking out three.

Caglianone was handed a no-decision after throwing three-plus innings with one earned run allowed on two hits and two walks. The left-hander struck out five.

NOTABLES

  *   The Gators won their 10th series of the season including their fifth sweep.
     *   Florida is 35-10 (14-7 SEC) through 25 games. Last season, UF was 27-18 through 45 games and 8-13 in SEC play after 21 conference contests.
  *   Florida won its ninth-straight series at Condron Family Ballpark.
     *   The Gators have won 14 of their last 15 series dating back to last season including 10 of 11 this season.
  *   Neely improved to nine-for-nine in save chances, which leads the SEC by four.
  *   Caglianone hit his nation-leading 25th home run of the season, moving him within one of tying the program record of 26 shared by Matt LaPorta (2005) and Langford (2022).
  *   On days he is the starting pitcher, Caglianone is 14-for-42 (.333) with nine home runs, two doubles, 21 RBI and 17 runs scored.
  *   Langford hit his 10th home run of the season and finished a triple shy of the cycle.
  *   Shelnut drove in his eighth run of the series with a sacrifice fly to left-center in the second inning.
  *   Rivera extended his team-leading on-base streak to 18 games.
  *   Florida has struck out 473 batters in 385 innings – translating to 11.1 per nine innings.
  *   The Gators have 468 hits through 45 games (10.4 hits/game).
  *   The Gators have scored in 48.2% of batted innings (173 of 359).
  *   Florida improved to 31-5 all-time against Missouri including 19-1 in Gainesville.
     *   The Gators are 26-4 vs. the Tigers under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1551> featuring a 15-0 mark at home.

 FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the sweep…
“It means a lot. Obviously, any time you have a chance to sweep somebody you have to take advantage of it. I kind of had a feeling that this might be a nail-biter down to the end because a couple walks here, a hit by pitch, and one swing of the bat can change the complexion of the game because of the weather and the wind. It’s really good to see Wyatt get going again. He’s hitting almost .400. Neely came in and did an unbelievable job to close it out and I think Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/15513> getting the double play was huge with bases loaded and nobody out.”

On Fisher’s double play…
“It was awesome. [Fisher] is a sinker-baller and he gets a lot of ground balls. I thought the feed by Cade [Kurland] was really good too. It was chest high and it was firm. That was probably a turning point in the ballgame.”

On the production up and down the lineup…
“We saw some good arms today, too. The freshman they threw out there is going to be pretty darn good and the guy at the end there is throwing 95-97, so we saw some really good arms today. Actually, the whole weekend we did.”

UP NEXT
Florida travels to Jacksonville on Tuesday evening to take on Florida State at 121 Financial Ballpark at 6 p.m.

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