Fresh off sweeping a seven-game homestand, the No. 4 Gators trekked to Fayetteville, Ark., with a renewed since of confidence. After a tough loss on Thursday, their buoyancy will be tested.
The Gators fell to the No. 18 Razorbacks 4-3 at Baum Stadium, in the first of a three-game set against the Southeastern Conference Western division leaders.
Florida twice blew leads, officially surrendering the go-ahead run in the eighth when ace right-hander Hudson Randall (8-2) gave up a solo home run.
"We're upset with the outcome of the game, but I thought both teams played well and both team's starting pitchers were really good,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.
Florida’s sophomore didn’t quite have his usual stuff, yet he kept the Gators afloat for nearly the whole game, tossing seven innings and allowing all four runs on six hits.
After he gave up a run in the first, Randall retired the side in order the next four innings. But with two outs and holding a 3-1 lead in the sixth, Randall hung a changeup and Arkansas’ Collin Kuhn smashed a two-run homer to left, tying the game.
“I thought it was off the end of the bat when it first left the bat, but it just kept going and going,” O’Sullivan said.
Randall has been UF’s most dominant pitcher this year, but last season’s Freshman All-American has struggled with the long ball lately, yielding seven home runs — his season’s total — in his last five starts.
While the Razorbacks clawed their way back into the game, the Gators failed to capitalize on multiple chances to put the game away.
Arkansas ace D.J. Baxendale tossed his first complete game, scattering seven hits and three runs while thwarting Florida's hot-hitting bats.
Florida scored one run in the first off an error on a Preston Tucker single to left. UF plated another run in the fifth on a RBI single from Daniel Pigott, and Tucker drilled a solo bomb to leadoff the sixth to give the Gators a two-run advantage.
However, Florida badly misplayed the rest of the sixth inning, a frame that would comeback to haunt the Gators.
Following Tucker’s homerun, Mike Zunino knocked a double and advanced to third on a sacrifice by Brian Johnson. But second baseman Josh Adams couldn’t properly lay down a safety squeeze and Zunino ended up stranded at third.
Baxendale (7-1) settled down, silencing Florida’s bats by not allowing a hit over the final three innings.
“We had our opportunities, we just didn’t cash in,” O’Sullivan said. “When you get runners with less than two outs you have to cash in.”
O’Sullivan’s middling streak against the Razorbacks continued, as the loss moved the manager's record to 4-9 versus Arkansas. The Gators haven’t won in Baum Stadium since 2005.
