Arkansas relief pitcher Matt Cronin let out a yelp of relief.
He just sealed the win for the Razorbacks over the Florida Gators, striking out pinch hitter Blake Reese on a 92-mph fastball up in the zone.
Florida hasn’t looked potent since the last time starting pitcher Brady Singer played two weeks ago.
That lack of production continued Friday morning as Florida (42-16, 20-10 SEC) dropped a game to Arkansas 8-2 in the third round of the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama.
Junior Jackson Kowar got the start and it didn’t take long before the Razorbacks got on the board.
In the second inning, designated hitter Luke Bonfield reached first on a walk. Two batters later, Arkansas third baseman got hold of a 1-0 Kowar pitch and gave it a ride down the left-field line for a home run.
The Razorbacks tacked on two more in the top of the sixth inning.
After another Bonfield walk put a man on first and second, center fielder Dominic Fletcher put a ball down the right-field line and scored another.
A few batters later, Arkansas first baseman Jared Gates singled to left field to score Bonfield and push the score to 4-0. The Razorbacks had potential to tack on a few more runs in the inning, but Fletcher got gunned down at third base by UF left fielder Austin Langworthy.
In the bottom of the inning, the Gators would pull within three after SEC Player of the Year and third baseman Jonathan India hit a towering home run to center field.
Florida would tally one more run in the bottom of the eighth after Langworthy hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score shortstop Deacon Liput and make it 4-2.
The Razorbacks iced the game in the top of the ninth, though.
UF relief pitcher Andrew Baker allowed a walk, a single and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases with two outs.
Designated hitter Hunter Wilson got one at-bat on the afternoon and he made the most of it.
After Baker loaded the bases, Wilson cranked a home run to right field to put the game out of reach at 8-2. Wilson was in full sprint around the bases as he got his dugout fired up after the bomb.
The Gators would go three-up, three-down in the bottom of the ninth as Cronin sealed the game for the Razorbacks and earned his 11th save on the year.
Florida is now in an elimination game with LSU.
Play was suspended for due to heavy fog during a seven-run bottom of the sixth inning for the Tigers. They’ll rest easily with a 10-0 lead.
Florida has only given up six hits and five earned runs but registered three errors, two in the sixth. The Gators have also left nine runners on base.
Play will resume tomorrow at 10 a.m.
You can follow Chris O’Brien on Twitter @THEChrisOB and contact him at cobrien@alligator.org.
Junior pitcher Jackson Kowar started on Friday against the Razorbacks, throwing six innings and allowing four earned runs during his fourth loss of the season.
