Peter Alonso provided the spark.
Stepping up to the plate with two outs in the sixth inning, runners on first and second, and a 2-0 lead over Arkansas, the UF first baseman made sure the Gators kept the lead for good.
Alonso cranked an 0-1 offering from Razorbacks pitcher Zach Jackson into visiting team’s bullpen in right field for a three-run home run.
Behind Alonso’s homer and efficient pitching, No. 3 Florida powered its way to a 8-2 series-sweeping win on Saturday at Baum Stadium. It’s the Gators’ second series sweep in Southeastern Conference play and just the third conference sweep away from McKethan Stadium over the last five years.
“It’s very very hard to win here let alone get a three-game sweep," UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "… Arkansas is better than their record shows. We just probably caught them at the right time.”
Just like it had throughout the whole series, a singular inning made the difference.
On Thursday, it was a six-run fourth inning that set the tone for a 12-8 UF victory.
On Friday, a five-run fifth inning fueled Florida to a 9-2 win to clinch the series.
And on Saturday, a five-run sixth put the Gators up top for good to clinch the road swing.
After being held hitless for the first five innings, the Gators (33-5, 11-4 SEC) loaded the bases in the sixth on a Jeremy Vasquez single and walks to Nelson Maldonado and Deacon Liput.
Vasquez came home when Johnson hit Buddy Reed, giving Florida the 1-0 lead. JJ Schwarz plated Maldonado on a sacrifice fly before Alonso belted his team-leading eighth home run of the year to give Florida a 5-0 lead.
The Gators also scored on a two-out single from Liput in the seventh, a Ryan Larson RBI single in the eighth, and a ninth-inning wild pitch that brought home Reed.
Arkansas (21-15, 4-11 SEC) scored on RBI doubles from Tucker Pennell in the seventh and Jake Arledge in the ninth. Michael Bernal came home on both hits.
After struggling last weekend against Mississippi State, UF pitcher Alex Faedo earned the win after tossing 6.1 innings of one-run baseball to improve to 7-1 on the season. The sophomore righty scattered five hits while striking out 10 batters and walking just two.
The biggest moment for Faedo came in the bottom of the second. After loading the bases with the first three batters he faced, Faedo managed to get out of the error unscathed, forcing an infield flyout, strikeout and fielder's choice to strand all three base runners.
“Coming off his last start last week, that was great for him," O'Sullivan said. "He kept his emotions in check.
“I think our players fought really hard for Alex after that and appreciated his work in that inning.”
Johnson (2-4) drew the loss for the Razorbacks.
Florida returns home for a midweek game against Jacksonville on Tuesday before returning to SEC action with a three-game home series against Georgia starting on Thursday.
Series Notes: After recording just seven hits in his last 10 games heading into the series, Liput paced Florida with five hits in three games against the Razorbacks. Schwarz, Alonso and Mike Rivera tied for the team lead with five RBIs each in the series. … Florida’s starting pitchers limited Arkansas to just 17 hits and four runs over 18 innings of work. The trio of A.J. Puk, Logan Shore and Faedo struck out 23 batters while allowing just five walks. … Arkansas committed eight defensive errors on the weekend.
Contact Jordan McPherson at jmcpherson@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
Peter Alonso celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run during Florida's win against Texas A&M on April 1, 2016, at McKethan Stadium.
