Florida and Arkansas did not meet last season as programs came away with a share of the SEC Championship.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Florida baseball takes on No. 2 Arkansas this weekend in a three-game series at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Friday’s series opener airs on SEC Network at 7 p.m. ET<https://floridagators.com/news/2024/4/25/baseball-series-opener-at-arkansas-moved-up-to-7.aspx>, followed by an ESPN2 matchup Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. Sunday’s series finale takes place at 3 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.
The Gators (21-19, 8-10 SEC) travel to Fayetteville for the first time since May 20-22, 2021 (L 1-6, L 3-4, L 3-9) to face the No. 2-ranked Razorbacks (35-6, 14-4 SEC). The two programs last met on four occasions in 2022. Florida took two of three in Gainesville (L 1-8, W, 7-2, W 9-7) then also defeated Arkansas at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala. by a score of 7-5.
Although Florida trails in the all-time series at 35-36 (11-16 away) and is 17-22 (4-8 away) under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1752>, the Gators have won three-straight contests vs. the Razorbacks by a combined score of 23-14. Florida has also won two of the last three series against top-five-ranked Arkansas teams.
Pitching Matchups
Friday | 7 ET (SECN) Saturday | 1 ET (ESPN2) Sunday | 3 ET (SECN+)
Florida LHP Pierce Coppola<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/pierce-coppola/16367> (0-2, 18.00 ERA TBA LHP Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365> (5-0, 3.86 ERA)
Arkansas LHP Hagen Smith (8-0, 1.53 ERA) RHP Brady Tygart (4-1, 2.64 ERA) TBA
Links WATCH<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/3b77efd1-0755-4733-bc03-480b5090064e> | LISTEN<https://floridagators.com/showcase?Live=5411> WATCH<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/3d9409e3-2f52-4a28-abc4-725a59a188b0> | LISTEN<https://floridagators.com/showcase?Live=5415> WATCH<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/f9275e0a-dc59-4c82-8e4d-1e3d26990aec> | LISTEN<https://floridagators.com/showcase?Live=5416>
SCOUTING THE RAZORBACKS
The No. 2-ranked Razorbacks enter the series wielding a 35-6 record and 14-4 mark in SEC play. The Gators seek to end the Razorbacks’ 25-game winning streak at home, as Arkansas holds a home record of 27-1 on the season. The Razorback offense is slashing .273/.394/.455 with 56 home runs. Arkansas pitchers have been dominant, leading NCAA baseball with an ERA of 2.91. With 493 strikeouts over 358 1/3 innings pitched, the Razorbacks lead the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings at 12.4. Defensively, Arkansas has posted a .982 fielding percentage over 1,405 chances.
LAST TIME OUT
With a season-high seven home runs and 16 hits, the Gators finished Tuesday’s game against the Stetson Hatters in seven innings with a final score of 13-3. The Gators offense had an outstanding game, with home runs from six of the nine batters that stepped up to the plate, including two off the bat of first baseman Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365>. Also going yard was Michael Robertson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/michael-robertson/16375> with his first of the season, Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/16368>, Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/16370>, Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/16372> and Brody Donay<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brody-donay/16621>. Ryan Slater<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ryan-slater/16377> earned the win, tailing starter Cade Fisher<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-fisher/16369>, who completed two innings allowing only one run. Slater pitched through 1 2/3 innings letting up two runs, only one of which was earned, before being relieved by left-hander Frank Menendez<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/frank-menendez/16627>, who finished off the fifth and continued through the sixth inning. Closing out the seven-inning victory was Luke McNeillie<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-mcneillie/16629>, who tossed a clean seventh with one strikeout.
RELENTLESS REPTILES
Florida boasts 11 come-from-behind wins on the season, with all eight of the team’s SEC victories occurring in comeback fashion. The Gators wield three walk-off victories already this year.
WEEKEND WARRIORS
Despite the series loss at then-No. 13 Vanderbilt, the Gators have claimed 22 of their last 27 three-game, regular-season series dating back to the 2022 season including 15 of 20 in SEC play. The Gators are 46-23 in weekend series since the start of last season and 55-26 across the team’s previous 27 series at any venue.
THE SEC’S FINEST
Across their last 71 conference tilts, the Gators have gone 45-26 vs. SEC opponents featuring a 37-23 regular-season mark. Dating back to O’Sullivan’s first year at UF in 2008, Florida’s .610 winning percentage is the best in the conference (285-182).
NATIONAL LEADERBOARDS
Florida ranks among the top-15 teams in the country in home runs (90 – fourth), fielding percentage (.980 – 13th) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.8 – 14th). The Gators fall within the top-five teams in the SEC in all three categories: homers (third), fielding (fourth) and K/9 (fifth). Florida also leads the SEC with the most offensive hit-by-pitches at 81 (2.03 per game).
HEATING UP
The Florida offense has rediscovered its stroke over the last seven games, slashing .325/.408/633 with 20 homers and scoring 57 runs on 77 hits. Digging deeper, the Gators have totaled 54 runs on 71 hits in their last 50 offensive innings dating back to the seventh frame of game two against South Carolina on April 13.
GOING STREAKING
The longest active on-base streak on the team belongs to Caglianone at 26 games, who also paces Florida with a 19-game hitting streak. Caglianone also leads UF in multi-hit games (22) and multi-RBI contests (17), followed by Evans with 18 and 12, respectively. Outifler/infielder Tyler Shelnut<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyler-shelnut/16376> also boasts 12 multi-RBI games alongside Evans.
HEART OF THE ORDER
Florida has three qualified hitters with an OPS of 1.000 or higher in Caglianone (1.391), Evans (1.042) and Shelnut (1.000). That total rises to five when lowering the bar to a .900 OPS, as both infielder Colby Shelton<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/colby-shelton/16639> (.981) and Donay (.907) join the contingent. All five players are homering every 15.5 at bats or fewer while slugging above .560, led by Caglianone at 6.4 at bats per homer and an .888 slugging percentage.
THE CAGLIANONE FILE
Fresh off tying Tyler Bosetti’s (Nevada, 2021) NCAA record with homers in nine-straight games, Caglianone was left homerless for just one contest before going yard twice on Tuesday vs. Stetson. His 25 home runs trail Georgia’s Charlie Condon by one for the NCAA lead, while coming in at sixth nationally in slugging (third in SEC) and t-13th in hits (66, second). He leads Florida in every slash category (.410/.503/.888) in addition to runs (49), RBI (49), hits, at bats and OPS, and is UF’s only qualified hitter with a strikeout rate below 20% at a dazzling 7.3%. He holds status as the fifth player in UF history with multiple 20-homer campaigns (Matt LaPorta, Brad Wilkerson, Jud Fabian, Wyatt Langford<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/wyatt-langford/15497>) and is the fourth to do so in consecutive years (excludes LaPorta).
On the mound, he leads UF with a 3.86 ERA while ranking sixth in the SEC in batting average against (.201). Among qualified SEC pitchers, Caglianone has allowed the third-fewest hits (32) and is tied for the fourth-fewest home runs surrendered (four).
COPPOLA’S COMEBACK
Redshirt sophomore southpaw Pierce Coppola<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/pierce-coppola/16367> returned to the mound for the first time in 783 days to start on April 13 vs. South Carolina. This weekend marks his fourth-career start including his third of the season, wielding a 12.0 K/9 and 2.9 K-to-BB ratio.
FRANK THE TANK
Five of Menendez’s last six appearances have been scoreless outings featuring three-straight. In his last three relief appearances, Menendez has pitched five shutout innings while allowing just one hit and one walk. In that span he has struck out six and limited hitters to a .067 batting average.
FISHER REELS IT IN
Jameson strung together a pair of scoreless appearances at No. 13 Vanderbilt over the weekend. He combined for 3 2/3 shutout frames and allowed just one base hit, walking zero and striking out seven. In seven SEC appearances this season, Jameson owns a 1.86 ERA, .147 batting average against and 12 strikeouts versus three walks over 9 2/3 conference frames.
McDEALIN’ IN THE SEC
After struggling out of the gates with a 19.89 ERA through his first four collegiate appearances, McNeillie has dominated in SEC play to the tune of a 3.45 ERA, .241 batting average against and 19 strikeouts against six walks in 15 2/3 conference frames. At 2-2, he is tied for the team lead in SEC victories while making a team-high nine appearances in league play. As a result, he has lowered his ERA all the way to 7.24 on the year. Since March 15, McNeillie has posted a 2.84 ERA, .210 BAA and 26-to-7 K-to-BB in 19 combined non-con and SEC innings.
SHELLY CELLY
Shelnut is on a tear at the dish, notching four home runs across Florida’s last five games. The Lake City, Fla. native was instrumental in the team’s Saturday victory over Vanderbilt, knocking a three-run homer in the fifth as well as swatting a two-run double to give the Gators insurance. The hits saw Shelnut make moves with career highs, securing his 12th home run and tying his single-game RBI record with five.
SULLY SUPERLATIVES
Since O’Sullivan’s 2008 arrival, no college program has more CWS trips (8), Super Regionals hosted (nine), top-eight national seeds (10) and NCAA Tournament bids (15) than the Florida Gators. Overall, Florida’s 15-straight NCAA bids represent the second-longest active streak in the sport. The Gators have also hosted 12 NCAA Regionals out of a possible 15 during O’Sullivan’s tenure (no NCAA Tournament in 2020), which ranks first in the nation. Looking at the SEC specifically, Florida’s .617 winning percentage (277-172) since 2008 is the top mark in the conference.
ON DECK
Florida returns home to host Florida Atlantic on Tuesday, scheduled for 4 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.
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