Bobby Boser had three hits while Ty Evans homered and the relief duo of Luke McNeillie and Jake Clemente fired 4 2/3 scoreless innings.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Erasing an early four-run deficit by scoring eight unanswered runs, Florida came roaring back to take down No. 5 Arkansas, 9-5, for a signature series victory at Condron Family Ballpark on Sunday afternoon.
Showcasing their relentlessness, the Gators (30-16, 8-13 SEC) won their second game of the series in comeback fashion, this time trailing by four runs entering the bottom of the second inning. The Orange & Blue has now won 10 of its last 12 contests including seven of nine in SEC play and will take a three-series winning streak into next weekend’s road showdown at South Carolina.
It was an all-out team effort in the finale, as all nine UF starters logged hits while six Gators drove in runs. Bobby Boser<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/bobby-boser/17349> (3-for-5) led the hits parade with a trio of knocks, finishing with one double, two RBI and two runs. Brendan Lawson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brendan-lawson/17350> (2-for-4) also had a multi-hit day highlighted by an RBI double, but the big swing came from senior Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/17325> (1-for-3), who drilled his first homer of the year and scored twice.
Florida’s bullpen allowed just one run over 7 2/3 innings of relief to pave the way for the comeback. Righties Luke McNeillie<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-mcneillie/17330> (W, 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) and Jake Clemente<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jake-clemente/17322> (SV, 3.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K) anchored the staff, combining for 4 2/3 shutout frames backed by six strikeouts.
Receiving the starting nod in the finale, right-hander Billy Barlow<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/billy-barlow/17355> blanked the Razorbacks (37-9, 14-7 SEC) in the top of the first inning. Florida promptly struck first by scoring in the home half, as Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/17327> and Blake Cyr<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/blake-cyr/17347> swatted back-to-back doubles down the left-field line to open a 1-0 lead.
Arkansas answered loudly in the top of the second, plating five runs to take a 5-1 advantage. The first run came home on a bases-loaded walk to Justin Thomas Jr., followed by a wild pitch that brought in Ryder Helfrick. Charles Davalan drove in the third tally on an RBI groundout to first base while Cam Kozeal capped off the outburst with a two-run double off the right-center wall. That would mark the extent of the scoring for Arkansas on Sunday afternoon.
Florida got one run back in bottom-two to cut the deficit to 5-2. Eventually advancing to third after a leadoff walk, Landon Stripling<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/landon-stripling/17351> scored on an RBI groundout to first base by Hayden Yost<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/hayden-yost/17337>.
UF righty Alex Philpott<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/alex-philpott/17333> chucked a pair of rebound zeros for the Orange & Blue in the third and fourth, keeping the Hogs in check as the Gators began to battle back. In the home half of the fourth, Florida rallied with two men down to draw within one run at 5-4. Justin Nadeau<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/justin-nadeau/17342> and Boser produced clutch RBI singles to score Stripling and Evans, respectively.
Right-handers Christian Rodriguez<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/christian-rodriguez/17334> and McNeillie teamed up to hold the Razorbacks scoreless in the fifth by stranding two men in scoring position. The Gators continued to scratch and claw on the offensive end, tying the game at 5-5 in bottom-five as Brody Donay<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brody-donay/17324> plated Cyr with a double into the right-center field gap.
Now in a brand-new ballgame, McNeillie retired the Arkansas side in order while fanning two in the top of the seventh. Yost then led off the bottom half with a single up the middle, as Boser provided Florida’s first lead since the first inning with an RBI double down the left-field line. Making it back-to-back doubles, Lawson served a shot into the left-center field gap to extend the Gators’ advantage to 7-5.
In front for the first time in nearly six innings, Florida turned to its closer in Clemente at the onset of the seventh frame. Clemente navigated around a one-out infield single, striking out two Razorbacks to hold the two-run lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, Evans gave the Gators some insurance with his first home run of the season – a solo blast into Dizney Grove in left-center. Now leading 8-5, Clemente stranded two Hogs to hold the three-run lead entering the bottom of the eighth.
With the bases loaded and one out in UF’s final trip to the plate, Cyr drove home Boser on a fielder’s choice to second base. That pushed the score to 9-5 in Florida’s favor as Clemente took the mound with a chance to secure the series in the ninth inning.
Although the Hogs loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, Clemente fanned Kuhio Aloy and induced a lineout to second base to cement the rubber-match victory. The save represented Clemente’s fifth of the campaign, as he dominated across three shutout innings of relief. Clemente concluded with four hits allowed, two walks and four strikeouts.
McNeillie (4-2) earned the decisive victory with 1 2/3 scoreless relief frames. The sophomore did not surrender a baserunner while striking out two.
Razorbacks reliever Carson Wiggins was stuck with the loss, giving up one earned run on one hit. He did not record an out.
Barlow received a no-decision despite surrendering four earned runs in 1 1/3 innings. He was charged with two hits and one walk.
Arkansas starting pitcher Landon Biedelschies did not qualify for the decision, lasting two innings with two earned runs allowed on two hits and one walk.
NOTABLES
* Following their 30th win of the season, Florida’s RPI is up to No. 19 behind a No. 5 strength of schedule.
* Florida has won 10 of its last 12 games overall and seven of nine in SEC play.
* The Gators have claimed three-straight SEC series (vs. Missouri, at Mississippi State, vs. No. 5 Arkansas).
* Florida erased a four-run deficit to post its 13th comeback victory including its sixth in the last 12 games.
* Florida has won eight of its last nine home games.
* The Gators have won four-straight home series against the Razorbacks.
* Florida scored in seven of eight offensive innings of Sunday’s finale.
* Barlow became the sixth different Gator to draw a game-three start this season.
* Every UF starter recorded a hit while six drove in runs.
* Each of the first five hitters in the UF lineup doubled.
* Evans connected for his first home run, becoming the 12th Gator to homer this season.
* McNeillie won his fourth game behind 1 2/3 perfect relief frames.
* Clemente locked down his fifth save of the season – all in Florida’s last 12 games.
* Clemente fired three scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 4.08.
* Boser collected his team-leading fifth three-hit effort of the campaign.
* Boser has reached base safely in 26-straight games.
* Florida is now 38-39 all-time against Arkansas including 22-14 in Gainesville.
* The Gators are 20-25 overall and 12-9 at home vs. the Hogs under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1999>.
* Florida is 11-6 in the last 17 home contests against Arkansas.
* Sunday’s official attendance was 5,681.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On Evans and the Gators stepping up in Shelton’s absence…
“He really did. I called him last night and told him he was going to play today. And then Yosty’s play in center, I don’t know what you can say about that. That changed the momentum, too. Everybody was excited about that. Offensively, we were really good, especially when you fall behind five runs after two. I thought for the most part, we pitched it pretty well this weekend. I think honestly, this is one of the better teams Dave’s (Van Horn) had. Offensively, to starting pitching, to the bullpen, they were really good. We beat a really good Arkansas team.”
On if this could be a turning point…
“I mean it’s up to them, right? We can’t take anything for granted and literally I told them this morning that today is the most important game of the year. Next Friday is the most important game of the year. Next Saturday is the most important game of the year. We literally take it game by game, but I think having a marquee series win on our resume should help our confidence, it should help us move forward.”
On the importance of producing zeros on the board…
“You guys have seen it. We’ve been fighting the rebound runs the entire year. We were able to navigate through it. I very rarely take a pitcher out mid-count, but that’s what the sense of urgency was like. We can’t let this slip away. We had to give our offense a chance to get back into this thing. We did it twice on 2-0 counts, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. I really felt like our offense was feeling good, they had a really good pregame and really good positive talk. When we got off to a rough start, we needed to keep our chins up and keep running.”
UP NEXT
Florida travels to Columbia, S.C. for a three-game, weekend series against South Carolina from May 2-4.
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