The last time he faced the defending champs, Arkansas starting pitcher Isaiah Campbell only lasted one inning and gave up six runs (five earned) on four hits and four walks.
This time, it was a different narrative.
On Friday night against Florida in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, he marched all over the Gators to the tune of 5.1 innings, two hits, two runs, eight strikeouts and no walks. The redshirt-sophomore held a perfect game until the fifth inning.
Arkansas went on to beat the Gators 5-2 and ended their season. The elation and the pain showed true, as the Razorbacks mobbed pitcher Matt Cronin following the final out (a Blake Reese ) while Florida sat in the dugout, dejected.
The Razorbacks got on the board early against All-American starting pitcher Brady Singer.
In the top of the first, Arkansas first baseman Casey Martin singled through the left side to put a runner on first. Martin haunted UF all night, going 4 for 5 with three runs and an RBI.
After a sacrifice fly moved him to second, Martin was brought home on a single to right field from designated hitter Luke Bonfield.
Two innings later, Martin singled again. He advanced to second on a fielding error by second baseman Blake Reese. A single from center fielder Dominic Fletcher plated Martin and put the Razorbacks up 2-0.
In the top of the fifth, Arkansas tacked on two more. Martin notched another hit - this time, a double that just reached beyond UF third baseman Jonathan India’s glove down the left-field line.
A groundout to first base put Martin on third, and a groundout to India at third allowed him to score.
Fletcher, the very next batter, unleashed on a ball to right. He knew as soon as he hit it that it was out, as he dropped the bat and walked a few steps before breaking into a light jog around the bases. The home run put the Razorbacks up 4-0.
Singer saw his night end after the fourth. Pitching on four days rest in his final game in a Florida jersey, he tossed five innings and gave up four runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
The Gators cut the lead in two in the bottom half of the frame.
Left fielder Austin Langworthy notched a two-out single up the middle to break the perfect game and the no-hitter.
After Reese got plunked to put runners on first and second, a Brady Smith single put Langworthy across the plate to put UF on the board. The freshman got his second-consecutive start after catcher Jonah Girand struggled mightily to start the CWS. A wild pitch scored Reese to make the score 4-2.
Freshman Tommy Mace came in for Singer in the top of the sixth and pitched the final four innings of the contest.
Arkansas first baseman Jared Gates singled to open the inning. He made it all the way to third on a tough throwing error from Reese. A ball barely got behind first baseman JJ Schwarz when Reese raced over to it. Mace dashed to first to cover but arrived a second too late, and Reese’s throw flew by him and careened off the first-base dugout.
Martin, once again, was the center of action in the next play. He hit a slow chopper to Reese and legged out an infield single to send Gates to the plate and put the Razorbacks up 5-2.
Florida threatened in the bottom of the seventh when it drew two-straight one-out walks. But back-to-back outs ended the opportunity, and the Gators didn’t put another runner in scoring position.
They could only manage three hits during the contest, which ultimately doomed them.
Arkansas plays in the CWS Finals Monday night against Mississippi State or Oregon State.
The Gators shouldn’t let the loss take away from what was a great season for the team. It began the season ranked No. 1 and was either No. 1 or No. 2 throughout the entire season. Although UF loses players like Schwarz, Jackson Kowar, Singer and India to the MLB Draft, it is bolstered by young pitchers like Mace and Jack Leftwich and has a great incoming recruiting class.
Chris O’Brien is a sports writer. You can follow him on Twitter @THEChrisOB and contact him at cobrien@alligator.org.
UF starting pitcher Brady Singer pitched 5.0 innings and gave up four runs on seven hits in Florida's elimination game loss to Arkansas on Friday.
