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Florida Gators host No. 2 Arkansas for a three-game set at Florida Ballpark

Untitled designby:Nick de la Torre•04/07/22•

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Omaha, NE - JUNE 27: Head coach Dave Van Horn #2 of the Arkansas Razorbacks makes a pitching change in the fifth inning against the Oregon State Beavers during game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 27, 2018 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)

The Florida Gators play host to the No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks this week at Florida Ballpark. The Hogs come into the series winners in an SEC best 13-consecutive conference series.

Arkansas is 22-5 / 7-2 SEC this season. Florida comes in 19-10 / 3-6 SEC. The 3-6 record is the worst SEC start in 15 years under Kevin O’Sullivan. Anything less than a series win this weekend would mark the worst four-seres record for a Kevin O’Sullivan ballclub.

How to watch, listen, and stream

Thursday (6:00 pm)Friday (6:30 pm)Saturday (1:00 pm)
Watch SEC NetworkN/AN/A
Stream linkESPNSEC Network+SEC Network+
Listen linksLinkLinkLink

Series History

Arkansas and Florida will meet for the fifth time in the last nine seasons. The Razorbacks own a 35-32 all-time series lead.

However, the Gators have had more success against Arkansas at home. Florida has won seven of the 10 series played in Gainesville. Florida hasn’t dropped a home series to Arkansas since 2012.

Scouting the Hogs

  • Arkansas is 7-2 in SEC play for the second straight season and the third time in the last five seasons.
  • The Hogs have won six consecutive SEC road series and are 9-2 in their last 11 SEC road series.
  • The Razorbacks enter this weekend’s action ranked 14th nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (7.3), 14th in strikeouts per nine innings (11.0), 15th in WHIP (1.21), and 20th in earned run average (3.57).
  • Dylan Leach became only the second Razorback batter since 1994 to hit for the cycle, going 5-for-5 with two home runs (one from each side of the batter’s box) and five RBI in Arkansas’ wild 21-9 win over UCA on Tuesday night.
  • Defensively, Arkansas has a .985 fielding percentage, which tops the SEC and ranks fourth nationally.

Pitching matchups

ArkansasFlorida
FridayRHP Connor Noland
(4-1, 3.05 ERA)		Florida LHP Hunter Barco
(5-1, 1.87 ERA)
SaturdayLHP Hagen Smith
(5-1, 3.62 ERA)		RHP Brandon Sproat
(3-3, 4.68 ERA)
SundayRHP Jaxon Wiggins
(4-0, 3.69 ERA)		TBD

Gators need Barco and Sproat

Hunter Barco has been a steady force for the Gators this season. The left-hander has been a rock on Friday night but the rest of the weekend has been in flux. With almost half of the seaosn finished, the time to tinker is over. Florida needs to get the best out of Barco and Sproat. Something Kevin O’Sullivan pulled no punches about Tuesday night.

“There’s no other way for us to do it. If we’re going to have a successful season and get this thing going the right direction Hunter’s gotta be Hunter and Brandon’s gotta be consistent,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s certainly capable. You guys saw how he pitched on Friday night. It was the same thing he did against Miami. He just needs to give us a quality start.”

“Those things have to happen. Let’s be honest. I think we’re at a point of the season where those two guys need to pitch for us in those roles. Hunter has done an unbelievable job this whole year and Brandon has shown signs of being a dominant guy. If we’re going to be as good as we want to be at the end those two guys have to carry the weight, so to speak.”

Projected lineups

ArkansasFlorida
CMichael TurnerBT Riopelle
1BPeyton StovallKendrick Calilao
2BRobert MooreColby Halter
3BCayden WallaceDeric Fabian
SSJalen BattlesJosh Rivera
LFZack GregoryWyatt Langford
CFBraydon WebbJud Fabian
RFChris LanzilliSterlin Thompson
DHJace BohrofenMac Guscette

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