Gators outslug Razorbacks to pick up huge series win

For a while, it looked like the Gators’ inconsistencies on the mound were going to cost them yet another SEC game.

After their offense scored four runs in the bottom of the third to take a sizable lead, Brandon Neely gave up four runs in the top of the fourth to tie the game right back up.

After Wyatt Langford’s three-run homer gave them a 7-4 advantage after five innings, Ryan Slater lost his command of the strike zone and allowed the Razorbacks to plate a pair of runs.

Zack Gregory tied the game with a home run in the eighth off of Slater.

The Gators seemed poised to let another winnable game slip through their fingertips.

This time, however, they made the plays that they needed to over the final two innings to exit Florida Ballpark with a 9-7 win over the No. 2 Razorbacks. UF scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth off of Arkansas closer Brady Tygart, and Blake Purnell retired all five batters that he faced to pick up the win.

The series victory could vault the Gators (21-11, 5-7 SEC) back into the national rankings on Monday, and it will definitely bolster their postseason resume when the time comes for those discussions.

“We had an emotional talk on Friday before the game,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I tried to put things in perspective for them as far as the things they’re worried about and maybe not allowing them to perform at the level they want to. When you go through life, there’s a lot more difficult things you have to go through. I’ve been their age. I’ve been through life experiences that they haven’t been through, maybe have a little bit more perspective, maybe ease the calmness a little bit.

“For whatever reason, when things have gone bad, we have not been able to stop the bleeding, and, today, fortunately for us, we were able to do just enough. Offensively, we were really good against a really good starting pitcher, [Jaxon Wiggins]. I had him this summer with the U.S.A team. [He throws] 95 to 98. The message at the end of the game today was the same thing. We can beat anybody, but we can also lose to anybody. We have to worry about ourselves. We have to get better.”

Colby Halter, Jud Fabian, Sterlin Thompson, Wyatt Langford and Josh Rivera all notched two hits, and Langford also drove in four runs. Florida racked up 13 hits as a team and went an astounding 4-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Arkansas, meanwhile, got two hits apiece from Jalen Battles and Gregory but went just 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position. That discrepancy in clutch hitting ended up being the difference in the game.

“This weekend was fun,” catcher BT Riopelle said. “There were ups and downs. There were things that didn’t fall your way, a lot of adversity and stuff like that, but that’s what makes this game so fun is you get past those things, and you obviously end up with a win. That’s fun, but that game in general, those last two days, playing against a really good opponent that’s respected and we respect each other, that’s just a fun series. That was the most fun series I’ve ever played in my whole life.”

Neely started off strong in his first career start, keeping Arkansas (23-7, 8-4) off of the scoreboard and striking out four batters in the first three innings.

Halter jumpstarted UF’s offense with a leadoff single in the third off of Wiggins. With one out, Thompson singled up the middle and advanced to second when center fielder Braydon Webb unsuccessfully tried to throw out Halter at third. Langford singled up the middle to score Halter, and Riopelle crushed a waist-high 3-2 fastball over the wall in right-center field to make it a four-run inning.

Neely had a chance to hang another zero in the fourth inning, as the Razorbacks had runners on first and second with two outs following a couple of singles.

Then the wheels fell off for Neely. Battles singled through the left side to drive in a run, and Neely walked Peyton Stovall to load the bases despite jumping ahead of him 0-2. Gregory won an eight-pitch at bat by lining a bases-clearing double into the right-field corner to tie the game.

Slater took over on the mound and ended the inning with a groundout. He then struck out two batters in a scoreless fifth.

The Gators capitalized on Slater’s strong pitching to retake the lead in the bottom of the inning. Jud Fabian and Thompson hit back-to-back singles to lead off the frame, and Langford crushed a hanging 0-1 breaking ball from Wiggins over the wall just to the left of the batter’s eye to make it a 7-4 game.

Once again, though, Slater gave up a couple of rebound runs to give the momentum right back to Arkansas. Battles doubled to left with one out, and Stovall hit a groundball to first that Kendrick Calilao misplayed. Battles scored to make it 7-5.

Slater hit Gregory with a pitch to put two runners on before Cayden Wallace grounded into a fielder’s choice for the second out. A four-pitch walk to Webb loaded the bases, and another four-pitch walk to Robert Moore forced home a run to make it 7-6.

Slater managed to keep the slim lead intact by striking out Chris Lanzilli to end the inning.

Tygart entered the game in the sixth for Arkansas and worked around a couple of walks to keep the Gators from scoring. He then struck out the side in the seventh.

With one out in the eighth, Gregory belted a 2-1 fastball from Slater over the berm in right field to tie the game.

As it turned out, that would be the Razorbacks’ final baserunner of the game, as Purnell entered immediately after the long ball.

“Getting the first-strike and then also keeping the ball low so they don’t have an opportunity to hit it into the jet stream and take it out of the park,” Purnell said of the key to his success.

Rivera started the decisive offensive rally by laying down a bunt to lead off the bottom of the eighth. He was safe at first for a single, and Tygart’s throw got away and allowed him to move up to second. A sacrifice bunt by Mac Guscette advanced him to third with one out.

Tygart jumped ahead of Deric Fabian 0-2 but left a breaking ball over the middle of the plate. Fabian lined it to center field. Webb went down to a knee to make the catch, but Rivera tagged up and beat the throw home for the go-ahead run.

“I think the at bat by Deric was huge, for a freshman to be in that spot, to come up and stay in the middle of the field,” O’Sullivan said. “And then Josh’s bunt, it wasn’t perfect, but Tygart is a really good fielder. We’ve been watching him, but it just felt like he was in cruise control, and, sometimes, when guys are in a rhythm like that, maybe a bunt play kind of opens things up. Fortunately enough for us, it did.”

Halter lined the very next pitch down the right-field line for a double, which prompted a pitching change. Jud Fabian hit Zebulon Vermillion’s first offering into left field to score Halter and provide Purnell with some insurance.

Purnell didn’t even need the additional run, though. He set the Razorbacks down in order to finish off a series win that seemed highly improbable following the series-opening blowout loss on Thursday. The players poured out of the dugout to celebrate with Purnell on the mound.

“It’s the greatest feeling ever because everybody has faith in you, thinks you’re going to get out of the game and win the series, and it’s just a great feeling to come through for the team,” Purnell said.

“It’s been a rough couple weekends, but, hopefully, this puts us in the right direction for the rest of the season.”

O’Sullivan is pleased with getting the series win, but he warned his team to not get too high on themselves after the game.

“We cannot get too far ahead of ourselves,” O’Sullivan said. “It was a good weekend. We won a series against a really quality opponent, but, at the same time, as good as they feel right now, if we don’t play well next weekend, you could be right back in the same spot.”

Ethan Hughes
Ethan was born in Gainesville and has lived in the Starke, Florida, area his entire life. He played basketball for five years and knew he wanted to be a sportswriter when he was in middle school. He’s attended countless Gators athletic events since his early childhood, with baseball being his favorite sport to attend. He’s a proud 2019 graduate of the University of Florida and a 2017 graduate of Santa Fe College. He interned with the University Athletic Association’s communications department for 1 ½ years as a student and also wrote for InsideTheGators.com for two years before joining Gator Country in 2021. He is a long-suffering fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars. You can follow him on Twitter @ethanhughes97.