Florida’s Kevin O’Sullivan could breathe a little easier Saturday
night.
After two-straight frustrating losses, UF’s manager implored his
team to dig deep and salvage a win to keep pace for the top-spot in
a tight Southeastern Conference race. The No. 5 Gators answered
their coach’s call, knocking off No. 18 Arkansas 5-3 in the series
finale in Baum Stadium in front of 9,862.
“I
told the guys before the game, ‘We need to focus and play as hard
as we can and see what would happen and try to avoid a sweep,’’’
O’Sullivan said. “They played great and responded.”
Behind another strong start from freshman Karsten Whitson (5.2
innings, three runs and six strikeouts), a valiant relief effort
from Austin Maddox (3.1 scoreless frames) and a barrage of singles
(eight of UF’s nine hits), Florida escaped Fayetteville with its
first win in Arkansas (32-15, 12-12 SEC) since 2005.
“We
didn’t hang our heads today,” O’Sullivan said. "We came out and
battled like heck.”
Following two-straight demoralizing losses, the Gators (36-12, 18-6
SEC) again jumped out to an early lead, plating a run in the second
off a RBI single from Maddox.
In
the fifth, shortstop Nolan Fontana laced a solo shot to right — his
second home run of the year — giving Florida a two-run
advantage.
But
in the bottom half of the inning, Whitson promptly surrendered the
first homer of his collegiate career when Razorback third baseman
Matt Reynolds rifled a ball down the left field line.
UF’s flamethrower breezed through the first four innings, but like
his Gator counterparts this weekend, the freshman struggled with
two outs in his final two frames.
After Arkansas cut the deficit to one, Whitson gave up the go-ahead
runs on a two-out two-run double into the left-center gap.
While it looked like the Gators would again waste an early lead, UF
immediately responded by plating three runs in the seventh.
Fontana drilled a two-strike curveball up the middle to leadoff the
inning. Three of the next four batters (Mike Zunino, Preston Tucker
and Daniel Pigott) smashed singles and the Gators regained the
lead.
“Your guys that you count on — top and the middle of the order —
they’ve got to come through for you and obviously they did there in
the seventh,” O’Sullivan said.
Maddox relieved Whitson to close out the sixth and tossed the final
three frames, the second longest outing of sophomore’s career.
“He
gutted it out,” O’Sullivan said. “He gave us everything he
had.”
The
right-hander retired the leadoff hitter in each inning and escaped
possible trouble in the seventh and eighth after two UF errors.
“When you play in a one-or-two run game on the road, the most
important guy is to get the leadoff hitter,” O’Sullivan said. “It
doesn’t allow the fans to get into it. They get [the leadoff
hitter] on, next thing you know this place is going to erupt. But
he did a great job.”
Etc.: Despite the win, Florida dropped a series
for just the second time all season. … Arkansas scored 10 of its 12
runs in the series with two outs. … Pigott had five hits on the
short road trip, all singles.
