It was almost as if Mike Rivera knew what was coming his way.
When Missouri’s Tanner Houck spun a 1-0 slider over the heart of the plate, the UF catcher didn’t buckle his knees or hesitate a bit.
Instead, Rivera waited on the offspeed pitch and launched it over the left field wall, netting Florida a 4-0 lead in the sixth against one of the Southeastern Conference’s premier pitching talents.
Behind Rivera’s second home run in as many games, the Gators (18-9, 3-4 SEC) edged the Tigers 4-3 Friday night in Columbia, Missouri, allotting Florida it’s first conference road win of the season.
“(Missouri has) been playing with a lot of confidence,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said in a release. “I think they had just two losses at home. It was a good win, it was a really good win."
Also good was Florida’s starting pitcher, Alex Faedo.
The junior right-hander cruised through his first six innings, limiting the Tigers (21-5, 4-3 SEC) to just three hits.
Meanwhile, the Gators had already given Faedo a 4-0 lead thanks to a first-inning JJ Schwarz RBI single, a third-inning Mizzou error that led to a run and Rivera’s two-run blast.
Rivera has been a driving force for Florida’s offense of late, going 3-for-7 with two homers and five RBIs over his last two games.
“Tonight the wind was blowing in and it was a cold night and the ball was not traveling,” O’Sullivan said of his catcher’s two-run shot. “He continues to do well.”
Trouble didn’t come knocking until the seventh and eighth innings.
A Chris Cornelius run-scoring single fetched Missouri its first run before Florida nearly choked its lead away because of sloppy play.
UF left fielder Ryan Larson failed to haul in what would have been the first out of the eighth. Two batters later, Brian Sharp doubled in a run to bring the Tigers within two.
And after UF reliever Andrew Baker served up an RBI single to Brett Bond in the same inning, O’Sullivan went to Michael Byrne to stymie Missouri’s rally.
With two outs and the tying run on third, Byrne struck out Ian Nelson to end the threat. The sophomore worked a clean ninth to earn his team-leading third save of the season.
“Michael Byrne’s been really good for us,” O’Sullivan said.
The run support — four runs on nine hits — were enough to keep O’Sullivan happy for the time being. On a night where Faedo was on his game, all Florida had to do was take advantage of a few of Houck’s mistakes. They knocked the 6-foot-5 potential first-rounder around for four runs (three earned) through seven innings.
"This was two of the best pitchers in the country going head-to-head tonight,” O’Sullivan said. “I’ve been saying all along that our bats are starting to come along and we hit a lot of balls hard tonight against one of the best pitchers in the country.”
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UF catcher Mike Rivera bats during Florida's 2-0 win against Miami on Feb. 25, 2017, at McKethan Stadium.
