Florida Gators
Missouri
Missouri Takes Series Over No. 5 Florida, 5-3
Sunday, April 5, 2015 | Baseball
COLUMBIA, Mo. – A five-run fifth inning powered Missouri (22-11/8-4 SEC) to a series-clinching 5-3 victory over No. 5 Florida (24-9/6-6 SEC) on Easter Sunday at Taylor Stadium. Junior right-hander Peter Fairbanks (3-3) limited the Gators to one run on two hits over five innings to pick up the win and sophomore Ryan Howard expanded the Tigers' 2-1 margin with a three-run homer during the frame.
Senior Josh Tobias (2-for-3, two RBI) provided the Gators with 1-0 lead in the second inning with a one-out homer to right center field for his fourth dinger of the year.
Missouri tallied five runs on five hits in the fifth inning to grab a 5-1 advantage. Junior Zach Lavy (2-for-3) had led off with a double into left center before sophomore righty Dane Dunning (4-1) had freshman Brett Bond ground out, holding the runner. Freshman Alex Del Rio tied the game with an RBI single up the middle and senior Case Munson (2-for-3) followed with a base-hit into left field for runners on the corners. Senior Brett Peel (2-for-4) bunted for a single, bringing Del Rio home and prompting a pitching change. Although senior southpaw Bobby Poyner struck out sophomore Jake Ring, Howard belted a three-run homer to left field to give the hosts a four-run edge.
Senior Andrew Schwaab took over for Fairbanks and struck out a career high four batters over two scoreless frames. Junior Breckin Williams pitched a perfect eighth before the Gators tallied a couple of runs in the ninth to pull within 5-3. Sophomore Buddy Reed (2-for-4) opened the final inning with a single up the middle and then scored on an RBI triple by Tobias. Freshman JJ Schwarz lofted a sacrifice fly into center field to drive in Tobias but the visitors could not move any closer.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
On today's series finale:
“We jumped out to a 1-0 lead and they did a good job all weekend pitching-wise so credit them. For us, offensively we've got some work to do. Obviously, it wasn't a great weekend for us offensively. It's hard to win a lot of games when you get five hits. We have some good offensive players, we just have to go home and get to work. We have had a very difficult time making pitches in the middle of an inning to get out of innings and the big inning has been hurting us. We've got some work to do to try and correct it and we have to figure out who we can pitch on weekends.”
Postgame Notes
- The Gators have split their four SEC series, defeating Tennessee and Alabama at home but falling to Ole Miss and Missouri on the road.
- Florida has 27 homers in 33 games, surpassing last season's total of 26 round-trippers in 63 contests.
- Starter Dane Dunning went 4.1 innings, giving up six hits and four runs, with four strikeouts.
- Josh Tobias went 5-for-9 (.556) on the weekend, with five RBI and four extra-base hits (two triples, homer, double).
- Buddy Reed was 5-for-11 (.455) and scored three runs in the series.
Up Next
The Gators return to McKethan Stadium to host Stetson (18-15/3-0 A-Sun) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game can be heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell and will be carried on SEC Network+ with Nick Belmonte and Mick Hubert through participating TV providers only through WatchESPN.
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