Gators rally to claim series over No. 2 Arkansas

The Florida Gators baseball team snapped a two-series losing streak this weekend with a 2-1 series victory over the No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks.

The Gators opened the series with an 8-1 loss, but fought back in the final two games of the series with a 7-2 win on Friday and a 9-7 victory Saturday. 

Florida snapped the Razorbacks’ streak of 13-straight SEC series wins that dates back to May 2019. UF now sits at 21-11 on the season with a 5-7 record in SEC play, while holding a 34-36 record all-time against the Razorbacks.

The Gators have a tough week ahead on the road when they travel to Tallahassee on Tuesday to take on the No. 20 Seminoles before heading to Nashville for a three-game series against the No. 16 Vanderbilt Commodores. 

Gators claim the series in a back-and-forth Saturday

The Fabian brothers helped secure the win for Florida. 

After Arkansas tied it up in the top of the eighth, Deric Fabian hit a SAC fly to center that allowed Josh Rivera to score. Jud Fabian then singled down the left-field line to score Colby Halter and give the Gators a 9-7 lead and win. 

Brandon Neely earned the start on the mound for Florida, pitching 3.2 innings while giving up five hits and four runs. He tossed four strikeouts. 

Ryan Slater came in to relieve Neely with 3.2 innings of his own and three strikeouts, allowing three hits and three runs. 

Blake Purnell came in to close out Saturday’s matchup with 1.2 innings, giving up no hits and no runs to secure a Florida victory. He earned the win and is now 3-2 on the season. 

“We kind of hurt ourselves, but we were resilient,” O’Sullivan said. “Maybe a couple of weeks ago we may not have hung in there. We hurt ourselves today. We had some big at bats. Deric’s at bat was huge. Gave us a little bit of cushion. Then Blake Purnell, what can you say about him, he was outstanding the entire weekend.”

After two scoreless innings, the Gators scored four in the bottom of the third inning with BT Riopelle’s three-run shot to center and a Wyatt Langford single that scored Halter.

The Razorbacks climbed right back into it with four runs of their own in the top of the fourth inning, but Langford answered with a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth. 

Florida evened the series on Friday night

The Gators jumped out to a five-run lead after three innings with home runs from Langford and Riopelle. From there, Arkansas couldn’t rally as Florida’s pitching staff dominated in the 7-2 win. 

Brandon Sproat started for UF and did not disappoint. He pitched 5.2 innings with five strikeouts while giving up seven hits and just one earned run. He earned the win and is now 4-3 on the year.

“I think the biggest step forward for him was his curveball tonight,” O’Sullivan said. “He landed it early in the count often. I think at some point he threw 14 of 16 first-pitch strikes. When you do that, you got a chance to be successful, and he did that tonight.”

In relief came walk-on pitcher Purnell, who finished off the Razorbacks with 3.1 innings pitched. He gave up three hits and one run to help the Gators snap a six-game losing streak against the Razorbacks.

Arkansas dominates game one

After not allowing a hit through the first three innings of play, Florida ace Hunter Barco gave up two runs before being pulled after the fifth. Barco suffered his second loss of the season and now sits at 5-2.

Arkansas was up 3-0 after six innings of action, and it was still manageable for the Gators, but they were no match for Arkansas starting pitcher Connor Noland. He let up one hit in seven innings pitched.

The Hogs blew the doors open in the ninth inning with five runs against Florida pitcher Nick Ficarrotta to secure an 8-1 win.

“We let it get away from us again,” UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It’s like a chain. Everybody’s got to do their job. Until we get to that point, we continue to struggle.”