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Florida baseball plays Missouri (12-18) in Columbia this weekend in search of its fourth SEC series victory of the season. The No. 6 Gators are 31-5 all-time against Mizzou.
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SEC Play
The Gators (17-11) have now gone 6-3 in conference play, winning 2-out-of-3 games in each weekend series. Florida is two games behind Kentucky, which leads the SEC East.
Missouri has fallen to 1-8 in the SEC, sitting in last place in the East. The Tigers’ only conference win was March 23, their second game against Kentucky.
Midweek Success
Both the Gators and Tigers have struggled to come out of the midweek with a win this season. However, they each go into this weekend on a win streak.
Florida hosted Florida A&M on Tuesday and defeated the Rattlers 10-7. The Gators continued to stay hot on offense, as four hitters combined for five home runs, including a 491-foot bomb off the bat of Jac Caglianone.
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Mizzou saw UT Martin twice this week, once on Tuesday and once on Wednesday. The Tigers swept the Skyhawks with scores of 13-3 and 15-9.
On the Mound
The Gators will put out the same rotation of starting pitchers as they did against Mississippi State last week.
Right-handers Brandon Neely and Liam Peterson take the mound Friday and Saturday, respectively. Two-way talent Caglianone will close out the weekend with the start Sunday.
Neely was able to get the win in his first Friday night start last week. Florida freshman RHP Luke McNeillie received SEC Honors as the Freshman of the Week after his performance in relief in last weekend’s series.
Luke McNeillie is the @SEC Freshman of the Week! 🏆
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— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) April 1, 2024
Sophomore RHP Logan Lunceford and junior LHP Javyn Pimental will start for the Tigers on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Lunceford has begun his year 1-2 with a 7.28 ERA and Pimental is 1-1 with a 2.6 ERA.
The Tigers have yet to name a starter for the final game of the series.
Weekend Matchup
Florida and Missouri begin play Friday at 7 p.m. (SEC Network+, ESPN 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF).
