GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Despite scoring five runs in the second inning, No. 5 Arkansas (37-9, 14-7 SEC) could not slow Florida (30-16, 8-13 SEC) and was handed a 9-5 loss in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Condron Family Ballpark.
With Sunday’s setback, the Hogs dropped the rubber match to the Gators and were unable to secure their first series win in Gainesville since 2012. Arkansas has now lost three straight SEC weekend series for the first time since 2016.
A run-scoring walk, wild pitch and groundout gave the Razorbacks their first three runs of the afternoon before Cam Kozeal laced a two-out, two-run double to right center, putting Arkansas ahead, 5-1, in the top of the second inning.
Arkansas would lead by three through the first three innings of play but had no answers for Florida’s offense all afternoon. The Gators overcame their early multi-run deficit by scoring in seven of their eight frames at the plate, tagging seven Razorback pitchers for nine runs on 12 hits and five walks in their series-clinching win Sunday.
Offensively, six Arkansas batters collected at least one base hit. Kozeal led the way with his team-leading two knocks, including his second-inning double, and two RBI, while Kuhio Aloy also added a double to begin the second inning.
Arkansas 7, Florida 0
The Razorbacks scored six runs in the top of the fifth and got outstanding pitching from Gage Wood, Gabe Gaeckle and Aiden Jimenez limiting the Gators to just five hits. Dave Van Horn praised Kuhio Aloy, Brent Iredale and his team afterward.
"Yeah, just a really good bounce back win after last night," Van Horn said. "We were frustrated after the game and felt like we kind of let it slip away. Then today, made all the plays, turned a couple double plays, great relay play at the plate, stole a couple bases, put together a great inning in the fifth with a little bit of their help. We took advantage of a couple errors. A bobble in the outfield, had a base runner take third base, next pitch (was a) sac fly instead of just an out, we got an RBI. And then Kuhio got a big hit and Iredale got a big two-out double and obviously a pinch-hit two-run homer and we’re up 6-0 and kind of in cruise control there a little bit. So good win."
The pinch hit home run was by Cam Kozeal. Van Horn surprised many starting Rocco Peppi over Kozeal, who has been one of Arkansas' hottest hitters in the SEC.
"Just matching up a little bit," Van Horn said. "The right-hander that they started, (Aidan) King, the numbers against rights were a lot better for the offensive guys that are right-handed compared to the lefties. Just felt like that we’d start out with a bunch of righties. Keep our leadoff man the same, right-handers after that and then we had a left-hander in I think the seven hole but that was it. Big-time swing (by Kozeal), tried to sneak a fastball by him and he hit it about as hard as you can hit it."
Wood, who just recently returned from injury, worked 3.0 innings allowing just a hit, no runs or walks and striking out five. Van Horn expected him to pitch better in his second outing this weekend compared to last week.
"Well, he had a really good bullpen is what I was told by Coach (Matt) Hobbs yesterday," Van Horn said. "Felt like he would be. I felt like he had great stuff last week, he just didn’t have the breaking ball and obviously he didn’t command this fastball quite as well. But today it was fun to watch. Three innings of high-octane carry fastball and a good breaking ball."
Wood's pitch count was 42. Was Van Horn tempted to stick with him longer considering how dominating he was?
"No, we were getting him out," Van Horn said. "As a matter of fact, that was his last hitter. If he didn’t get that last hitter, we were going to the pen. 35 would have been ideal. I think he ended up throwing 42, so that was right where we wanted him. Hopefully he gained a lot of confidence. Coach Hobbs and I talked about it’s kind of like a basketball player that’s been out. He starts seeing the ball go through the hoop, gain a little bit of confidence. He definitely did that today."
Gaeckle (4-1) got the win. He pitched 3.1 innings. He only allowed one hit, no runs, but walked four while striking out two. He also hit a batter. Jimenez worked the final 2.2 innings allowing three hits while fanning a trio. Van Horn reflected back on Gaeckle's performance.
"Didn’t have his best stuff, didn’t command his fastball," Van Horn said. "Had a good breaking ball. Kind of just battled through it. I think he was a little disappointed in himself, but I told him ‘you’re never going to great all the time,’ but he was just good enough and, you know, it is what it is. Hopefully next week when we play Texas he’ll be even better."
In the fifth, Kuhio Aloy did break a scoreless tie with a single that allowed Gabe Fraser and Justin Thomas Jr. to score. An error on a Florida outfielder allowed Aloy to get to third on the play. Iredale's double allowed Aloy to score. Kozeal hit his home run that also plated Iredale.
In the top of the eighth, Wehiwa Aloy gave the Hogs an insurance run with a sacrifice fly that got Fraser home for the final run in the game. The Hogs only struck out six times in the win after 16 times on Friday. What was the difference?
"Well obviously it starts with who’s on the mound, but Aidan King’s got a ton of strikeouts and really good stuff," Van Horn said. "We thought he was gonna throw a little harder than he did. We thought he was gonna be, like, 93-96. he was more like 92 most of the game. I think he hit 93 at least on the board a couple of times. Our guys seemed to be on him a little bit. He threw a lot of off-speed pitches, as they did last night. I mentioned that after the game that we cut down our strikeouts by 10 and we made them field the ball and they didn’t field them all and we took advantage of it and scored 6 in one inning."
Wood also talked about the difference this week and last in addition to how he feels.
"I got outs this week," Wood said. "Last week, I didn't get outs. Yeah, it's more just health reasons right now that I’m on a pitch count and building back up. You can't just go out there and throw 100 pitches after not seeing a hitter for eight weeks but I'm feeling good. Ready to just keep progressing throughout the weekends."
Wood was asked to talk more about his three innings on Saturday.
"I feel like I did a pretty good job of going out there and giving my team a chance to win the ball game," Wood said. "I just want to go out there and compete. Just being out there is a blessing. I got really lucky that I didn't have to get any surgery or anything and that it was just a small injury. It took a little longer than expected, but it's good."
Arkansas 4, Florida 6
Arkansas fell to Florida 6-4 on Friday in the first of a three-game SEC series in Gainesville.
Arkansas jumped out to a 2-0 lead after two innings on solo home runs by Wehiwa Aloy and Cam Kozeal. But then Florida starter Liam Peterson put the brakes on Arkansas' bats. Peterson (7-2) worked 6.0 innings to pick up the win. He allowed five hits, three runs, walked a pair and struck out 13. Dave Van Horn was asked how Peterson was able to dominate like that?
"Well, because he’s a first-round draft choice, No. 1," Van Horn said. "I mean, the dude throws harder than most big league starters and he didn’t lose it. He just… He made some mistakes with the fastball and left them in the plate and a couple of them left the yard, but really his stuff is amazing. He was throwing his breaking ball for a strike at will. That’s hard to do when you throw 97 mph, that you can just dump that breaking ball in there just about any time you want. He threw it a couple times down in the count 2-0 for a strike. A lot of time he’d start hitters with the breaking ball. When we hit a couple home runs the first couple innings, he just started throwing that breaking ball about 80% of the time. It’s kinda crazy when you think about it, when a guy can throw it for a strike and it’s 96, 97, 98 mph every time. But he’s just really good. A lot of talent, really talented."
The Gators started their comeback in the bottom of the third. Justin Nadeau was on first with two outs. Zach Root (5-3), Arkansas' starter, tried to pick him off. Root threw it away and the Florida second baseman was able to score all the way from first. Root worked 4.1 innings allowing six hits, five runs, walking two and striking out eight. Van Horn was asked if the failed pick off caused Root to lose his focus?
"Well, I'm sure it disrupted him," Van Horn said. "He's rolling along and he's got… I don't remember what the count was, but you had two outs and a runner on first and he picks him off. It was a called pickoff. We just felt like he was running and he was. He threw it up and out. First baseman didn't catch it. You saw what happened. The guys scores all the way from first base and It's kind of kind of shocking. As a pitcher, you'd probably rather give up a home run than that. Then he came back and finished off the hitter. He was pretty frustrated. And then the stuff just slowly started going away a little bit the command but give Florida's hitters credit. They're good and they hit the ball hard from there on for the most part."
The Gators then added a run in the bottom of the fourth to tie it at 2. In the fifth the Gators added four runs with the big hit a three-run blast by Luke Heyman over the fence in left field for a 6-2 lead. Van Horn credited the Gators for getting hot during the middle innings.
"The first two innings, he commanded everything," Van Horn said of Root. "I mean, it was change-ups, slider, cutters and they hadn't seen him yet. You know, and you start to get into the third inning or really the fourth… They'd seen him and they'd watch the guys that he'd gotten out and kind of figured out a little bit what they were going to try to… a little different plan maybe. But I don't think he was quite as sharp. That's normal when you start In your pitch count above 50, 60 as a starter there, you're not going to have as much stuff but it was more about the command than anything, not locating on the edges as much as he did the first couple innings. He was really good for the first two, three innings."
Justin Thomas Jr. homered to right field with Gabe Fraser on base in the top of the seventh to set the final margin of victory. Aloy continued his hot streak at the plate with the home run.
"He always looks good to me," Van Horn said. "You know, home runs, sometimes they come in bunches, but… Probably more than anything, he's seeing the ball pretty good. He's taking a lot of good swings.
"That was, I think it was 2-2, 3-2 count when he hammered that ball. So there were two strikes on him and I just felt like he got him a fastball. It was 97 miles an hour and he hit it a long way so hard to say, but he's just really seeing the ball well."
Dylan Carter and Christian Foutch also pitched for the Hogs. Jake Clemente earned his fourth save of the season for Florida.
