Florida baseball: 3 things learned from UF's sweep of Missouri

Florida baseball (35-10, 14-7 SEC) completed a three-game sweep of the Missouri Tigers with an 8-7 win on Sunday afternoon at Condron Family Ballpark.

"Obviously, any time you have a chance to sweep somebody you have to take advantage of it," Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "I kind of had a feeling that (Sunday) 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."

The Gators also beat Missouri 11-1 in seven innings on Friday night and 11-7 on Saturday. With the wins, Florida moved closer to the top of the SEC East Division. At 14-7, Florida is two games behind division leader Vanderbilt and a half game back of South Carolina with nine conference games remaining.

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Here's three things the Gators learned from the sweep over the weekend:

Wyatt Langford looks comfortable in the number two hole

The move from leadoff to two in the lineup has sparked Wyatt Langford, who went 8 for 13 with a homer and 5 RBIs during the series. Langford belted his 10th homer of the season on Sunday, ending an 11-game homerless drought.

 "It's really good to see Wyatt get going again," Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said.

Jac Caglianone remains dominant at the plate, shaky on the mound

Caglianone belted two home runs during the series and at 25 home runs, is one shy of the school record for home runs in a season (26) set by Langford (2022) and Matt LaPorta (2005). Overall, Caglianone went 2 for 10 with two homers and 5 RBIs in the series.

On the mound, the lefty Caglianone lasted just three innings in his start against Missouri on Sunday, allowing a run on two hits with two walks, two hit batters and five strikeouts. He loaded the bases with none in the fourth inning by hitting two batters and giving up a single and was relieved by Cade Fisher (4-0), who pitched of the jam and pitched 3.1 innings to earn the win.

Brandon Neely is back to closing games

Off a four-game suspension, Neely recorded back-to-back saves on Saturday and Sunday to increase his SEC-leading save total to 9.

On Saturday, Neely entered a 9-7 game in the bottom of the seventh and with the tying run at the plate, struck out Missouri center fielder Ty Wilmsmeyer to get out of the inning. He then pitched two more scoreless innings to secure the 11-7 win.

On Sunday, Neely entered the eighth inning with two runners on base and struck out Missouri third baseman Luke Mann with the tying run on second base to get out of the jam.

Overall, Neely pitched 4.1 scoreless innings over the weekend, allowing just one walk and one hit with six striekouts.

Up next

The Gators will face rival Florida State at the Baseball Grounds in Jacksonville on Tuesday night (6 p.m., WRUF AM 850).