Through four and a half innings, the rubber game between Florida and Missouri was quiet.
Both teams had accumulated just two hits each, and aside from a solo home run from Josh Tobias, both offenses were stagnant.
But Missouri (22-11, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) finally broke through the scoring silence with a five-run fifth inning, riding its lead to a 5-3 upset and series win over No. 4 Florida (24-9, 6-6 SEC) on Sunday.
UF’s batters struck out 11 times in Game 3, and while its pitching was solid early, it wasn’t enough to overcome a subpar offensive performance. The Gators tallied a .161 batting average.
Starter Dane Dunning (4-1) allowed just two hits through the game’s first four innings, but was responsible for four runs in the fifth. With the Gators trailing 2-1, senior Bobby Poyner replaced Dunning on the mound and promptly struck out the first batter he faced. But Mizzou’s next batter, sophomore Ryan Howard, hit a three run homer off Poyner to take a four-run lead.
“In this league, you’ve got to make pitches to finish innings,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “That’s been the story of our pitching the last couple weeks. We’ve had a very, very difficult time making pitches in the middle of an inning.”
Florida’s pitching staff limited Missouri to just three hits for the remainder of the game, but the deficit was too much to overcome. UF rallied in the top of the ninth after a Tobias RBI triple and a Schwarz sacrifice fly, but fell short after three straight fly-outs.
UF’s pitchers combined for seven strikeouts but allowed ten hits for the second consecutive game.
Florida will return home to face Stetson on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
“We’ve got to try and correct it, and figure out who we can pitch on the weekends that can make some pitches in the middle of an inning so we can stop giving up these big innings,” O’Sullivan said. “Something’s going to have to change.”
Series Notes: Harrison Bader went hitless in a series for the first time this season…Peter Alonso went 2-for-11 with 2 RBI in his series debut…UF now has 27 home runs, one more than it had all of last season.
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @icohenb
Josh Tobias bats during Florida’s 3-1 win against Florida State on March 18.
