Hogs secure series win over Gators

FAYETTEVILLE — Peyton Holt etched his name into Razorback lore, swatting a go-ahead two-run homer and executing a legendary deke double play to help No. 2 Arkansas (37-7, 16-5 SEC) clinch its second consecutive home weekend series win against Florida (22-21, 9-12 SEC) in Saturday’s doubleheader at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The Hogs have now won nine consecutive SEC home weekend series since last season, and 20 of their last 21 SEC home weekend series since 2019. Arkansas moved to 16-5 in SEC play this year, its best 21-game SEC start in program history.
With their 6-5 series-clinching win in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Razorbacks secured its 27th consecutive home win to tie the program record for consecutive home wins (27), which was set during the 1984-85 seasons at George Cole Field. Florida, however, won the second game of the doubleheader, 9-5, to snap Arkansas’ 27-game winning streak at Baum-Walker Stadium and hand the Hogs’ their first home loss since Feb. 18 against James Madison.
Up next, Arkansas closes out its midweek slate with a pair of contests against Missouri State at Baum-Walker Stadium. First pitch in the two-game set between the Razorbacks and Bears is 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 30, on SEC Network+.
Arkansas 6, Florida 5
Peyton Holt stole the show in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, hitting the go-ahead home run in the bottom of the seventh inning before executing a legendary deke double play to perfection in the top half of the eighth to help Arkansas earn a 6-5 series-clinching win over Florida, giving the Razorbacks their ninth straight SEC home weekend series victory.
After Florida broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the top of the seventh, Arkansas rallied from its multi-run deficit with a five-spot in the bottom of the inning. Jared Sprague-Lott’s two-out single scored pinch runner Hudson White before Wehiwa Aloy and Holt each clobbered two-run home runs to left field, catapulting the Razorbacks to a 6-4 lead.
Florida threatened to tie the game in the eighth, scoring a run on a fielding error to cut its deficit to one before loading the bases. With one out, Arkansas went to left-hander Stone Hewlett, who induced a fly out toward Holt in center field.
Holt faked a catch before making the catch to throw off Brody Donay, Florida’s runner on third, and his timing on the tag at third base. Holt threw toward third and Sprague-Lott fired home, where White tagged Donay to end the inning.
Christian Foutch preserved the Razorbacks’ 6-5 win in the ninth, recording the final out on a six-pitch strikeout. The right-hander threw six consecutive pitches of at least 100 mph to strike out Donay and secure the series-clinching win.
Right-hander Brady Tygart started on the mound and twirled his second consecutive quality start with six innings of two-run ball. The junior tallied six strikeouts for the second week in a row and limited the Gators to three hits and four walks.
Florida 9, Arkansas 5
Florida two-way star Jac Caglianone pitched four innings and hit a two-out grand slam in the fourth to help knock off Arkansas, 9-5, in the series finale. Caglianone’s 26th home run of the season capped the Gators’ six-run fourth inning against Razorback right-handers Ben Bybee and Koty Frank, changing the game’s momentum completely.
Arkansas struck first in the finale, opening an early one-run lead on Peyton Stovall’s RBI single in the bottom of the second and setting its sights on completing its fourth consecutive SEC home weekend series sweep. It was not meant to be, however, as Florida responded with a run in the top of the third before its game-changing six-spot in the fourth.
The Razorbacks punched back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth before scoring again in the sixth and eighth, but the Gators would not fold and maintained their lead until securing a 9-5 victory to salvage the series.
Stovall, one of four Razorbacks with multiple hits in the finale, went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBI. Jared Sprague-Lott (2-for-5), Ben McLaughlin (2-for-3, RBI, 2 BB) and Nolan Souza (2-for-5) also turned in multi-hit games.
In relief, Jake Faherty tossed two scoreless frames with a pair of strikeouts to lower his season ERA to 1.23. Parker Coil, meanwhile, also emerged from the bullpen and fired a scoreless inning, recording a strikeout in the process.

Arkansas 2, Florida 1
No. 2 Arkansas got a clutch sacrifice fly from third baseman Jared Sprague-Lott in the bottom of the eighth to take a 2-1 lead and eventual win over Florida in front of 10,551 fans at Baum-Walker Stadium Friday night.
Sprague-Lott's sacrifice fly allowed Ty Wilmsmeyer to score from third. With one out, Wilmsmeyer walked in the bottom of the eighth. He went to third on a single by Peyton Stovall. That proved to be the difference in the game. Gabe Gaeckle replaced Hagen Smith to pitch the final two innings allowing one hit, walking two and striking out three. Dave Van Horn was happy to survive a tough game against the Gators.
"Just a really, really good job by the pitching staff obviously, just giving us an opportunity," Van Horn said. "Both teams really pitched well. There weren’t a lot of walks, and some really good pitches made, located. A lot of velocity. … Watch from the side, both teams, I mean, it was just a well played game.
"We took advantage of a one-out walk, and Stovall had had a little bit of a rough night, but really, he got the biggest hit of the night getting Wilmsmeyer from first to third. And then Jared, it’s just the game works. He drives in the go-ahead run and it ends up being the winning run."
It was redemption for Sprague-Lott who missed a throw from first baseman Ben McLaughlin, who was charged with an error, that allowed Florida's Cade Kurland to get out of a rundown in the top of the seventh and score a run.
"He felt bad he didn’t catch that ball [in the rundown]," Van Horn said. "He kind of looked up to make the throw to the plate. It was just … I don’t know … You don’t see them all the time anymore because teams hit so well. But the pitching tonight was outstanding. Each team I think got three hits, and each team made an error, but we got the big sac fly there. Just a good win for us."
Arkansas got its other run on a home run by Ryder Helfrick in the bottom of the second. Helfrick started as the designated hitter.
"I just like the way he swings the bat against left-handed pitchers, so that’s why I put him in there," Van Horn said. "Coach (Matt) Thompson and I talked about it in my office today. What I do a lot of times, I write a lineup down in pencil, and then I’ll have Coach write one, just to see how close we are. We both had Helfrick DHing tonight, which it ended up paying off obviously.
"He got ahead 2-0, and man, they probably thought we were taking or whatever. He threw it hard, but he hit it harder. That was a big swing."
Gaeckle (3-2) got the win. But it was an outstanding start for Smith. He worked seven innings, allowing two hits, one unearned run, walked one and fanned 11 while throwing 96 pitches. His first three pitches were clocked at 100 miles per hour on the scoreboard.
"I guess so, man," Van Horn said. "I’ll look at what ours [speed gun] reads. Probably about the same. Sometime’s that’s a little slower than ours. Maybe it’s fast. But the ball was jumping out of his hand. The first pitch of the game, triple digits up there, is kind of amazing. He threw it by the hitter, and then the second pitch the hitter cheated a little bit and really got after it. You’ve got to give him credit there. Evans got the barrel [on the] ball. I just think Hagen’s on and he’s mixing, he’s as good as anybody I’ve ever had."
Florida's fourth pitcher, Luke McNeillie (3-6) worked two innings, gave up the one hit and run. He walked one and struck out three while taking the loss.
Van Horn talked about Smith going seven innings for the first time this season.
"I thought he was really, really good," Van Horn said. "I mean, he’s going through some guys, they were swinging now. They’ve got some power obviously. The game’s kind of fragile. A little mistake and [if] they hit a home or two-run homer ….He just did a great job. His stuff was really good. I didn’t feel like his stuff went away at all. He was still throwing great in the seventh.
"If he’s 23 years old and it’s 85 degrees, you probably just let him go. But again, he gave us all we wanted and more, really. Just glad that Gabe came in and did just as good a job, really. Just tremendous."