The No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks managed to manufacture a series win this weekend against the Florida Gators despite being outscored across three games.
The Razorbacks won the series-opening pitcher’s duel followed by a series-clinching victory in the first half of Saturday’s doubleheader, before dropping the final game of the series inside Baum-Walker Stadium, ending their 27-game home win streak.
The Razorbacks moved to 37-7 on the year and 16-5 in SEC play, while the Gators head home 22-21 overall and with a 9-12 SEC record.
Here is a closer look at this weekend’s action as the Razorbacks picked up their sixth SEC series win before hosting Missouri State for two games in the midweek.
Game Recaps
Game 1 – Arkansas 2, Florida 1: The series opener between the Gators and the Hogs saw Hagen Smith go head-to-head with Florida’s Pierce Cappola and Fisher Jameson, who combined for six innings and gave up only one run. The only game-differentiating plays were a second-inning Ryder Helfrick homer and a Jared Sprague-Lott go-ahead sac fly in the bottom of the eighth as Gabe Gaeckle earned his third win of the season in his two innings of work.
Game 2 – Arkansas 6, Florida 5: The first six innings of Game 2 were a snoozefest to say the least. Brady Tygart and Florida starter Brandon Neely pitched 5-plus innings of 1-run baseball before the Gators broke the 1-1 tie by putting up a 3 spot in the top of the seventh. The Hogs would finally break through in the bottom half of the inning with five runs of their own thanks to two-run shots from Wehiwa Aloy (10) and Peyton Holt (2). The Gators would not go down quietly, however, scoring another run in the top of the eighth, but they stranded the bases loaded due to an unbelievable outfield deke by Holt to preserve a 6-5 Razorback lead. Christian Foutch shut the door on the Gators with two outs in the ninth thanks to a healthy shoving of 100 mph fastballs.
Game 3 – Florida 9, Arkansas 5: Florida jumped all over the Hogs early, with seven runs through the first four innings, capped off by a Jac Caglianone grand slam. Arkansas would claw back here and there with runs scored in the second, sixth and eighth innings, but it left 13 runners stranded and ultimately fell short of a comeback despite a big day from Peyton Stovall and Ben McLaughlin, who reached base a combined seven times.
Series Storylines
Answering The Bell
The Arkansas bats have made a living this season off timely hitting. It’s the reason the team has 37 wins despite some of the weakest offensive numbers in the SEC.
The trend continued this weekend. At least through the first two games, it seemed like every time the Gators picked up momentum and put runs on the board, the Razorback offense had a response.
In Game 1, Florida tied things up in the seventh inning on a run-scoring error before the Hogs plated the go-ahead run an inning later. The same thing happened in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader, when Florida jumped ahead 4-1 in the seventh. Again, in the next inning the Razorbacks answered with five runs of their own, ultimately securing the series win.
While the Arkansas offense has struggled at times, including this weekend, it is nice to see that when provoked, the Hogs don’t just lie dormant.
Arkansas Got Caglianone’d (But Only A Little)
The biggest key going into the series was to hold down Caglianone as much as humanly possible. For the most part, the Arkansas staff did a good job keeping out of the hit column this weekend.
The two-way phenom was 3-10 at the plate this weekend with 4 intentional walks, 3 of which came in Game 2. Caglianone’s big highlight at the plate was his Game 3 grand slam that was the difference maker for the Gators.
Despite the two hits aside from the grand slam, and the four intentional walks, Caglianone only crossed home plate one time. That’s a successful number for the Razorbacks.
Arkansas also got to Caglianone on the mound, putting up 3 runs and 6 hits on the imposing lefty and forcing him to exit after 4 innings.
Both the Razorback pitching staff and offense should be happy with how they dealt with the “Sunshine Shohei.”
Are The “Ole Reliables” Not So Reliable?
Kendall Diggs and Will McEntire have been staples of Arkansas’ success over the last couple of years, with Diggs being “Mr. Clutch” at the plate and McEntire serving as one of the Razorback’s best arms.
Diggs and McEntire seem to be in some sort of slump the last few weeks, though, and that continued for both of them this weekend.
Diggs went 0-10 across the three games with 5 strikeouts, while McEntire got beat up again in his outing on Saturday, giving up 4 hits and 2 earned runs in his lone inning despite earning the win.
Diggs now has just four hits in his last 35 at-bats and has struck out 12 times in that stretch. McEntire has given up 10 earned runs in his last seven innings of work.
Do keep in mind, though, that Diggs has been battling a shoulder injury lately. Regardless, the Razorbacks will need him and McEntire to get it going down the stretch to help them find success in the postseason.
Series MVG (Most Valuable Gorilla)
Peyton Holt: 2-10, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Despite not having great numbers at the plate on the weekend, nobody in Arkansas’ lineup was more valuable than Holt.
His two-run go-ahead shot in the seventh inning of Game 2 was the series-clinching hit. Holt also made a defensive play so good that it almost overshadowed the home run.
With the bases loaded and one out in the eighth, Holt hit a pump fake on a would-be sac fly by Colby Shelton, then fired in a bullet to double off the runner from third, who got deked by the gutsy play in center. From go-ahead home run to run-saving outfield deke, no two plays were as valuable as those.
A special shoutout should be given, however, to Ben McLaughlin, who quietly went 6-9 with 3 walks and 1 run scored. He certainly had the most productive weekend at the plate, just not the most valuable.
Series MVA (Most Valuable Arm)
Gabe Gaeckle: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 K, 2 BB
The obvious choice here might be Hagen Smith, who gave up 0 earned runs across 7 innings while striking out 11.
To pick Smith would be to make a boring pick. Everybody knows how good Hagen is, and Hog fans have come to almost expect the brilliance they see in every series opener.
Gaeckle was the unsung hero in the series-opening win over Florida with his electric arsenal that shut down the toughest part of the Gator order and shut the door in the series-clinching win.
The true freshman from California seems to have locked up his spot as Smith’s successor on Friday nights moving forward.
Three series takeaways
- Thanks to its elite pitching staff, Arkansas is very capable of beating good teams even when they have underwhelming weekends at the plate.
- The Hogs can handle superstars. They did it with Travis Bazzana and others, and now with Caglianone. The Razorbacks will face more and more of these type of players down the stretch, but have shown they know how to handle them.
- Game 3 showed just how important it is for Arkansas to have a guy like Mason Molina. Razorback fans should walk away from this series with a newfound respect for Molina, who the Razorbacks missed badly in the series finale.
Up Next
The Razorbacks will host Missouri State for two games in the midweek inside Baum-Walker Stadium. Tuesday’s game is set for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch on SEC Network+.