Gators pitchers allowed just two runs on three hits and three walks while fanning 11 batters.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Florida came up short against No. 2 Arkansas by a final score of 2-1 in game one at Baum-Walker Stadium on Friday night.
Despite the result, Florida hurlers were excellent in the series opener. The charge was led by Fisher Jameson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/fisher-jameson/16371> with three shutout relief frames and starter Pierce Coppola<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/pierce-coppola/16367>, who allowed just one run in three-plus innings highlighted by a season-high six strikeouts.
Coppola struck out the side in the order in the top of the first, then made it four-straight by fanning Ben McLaughlin to open the second. With two outs in the frame, Ryder Helfrick connected on a 2-0 offering for a solo home run to left-center to give the Razorbacks (36-6, 15-4 SEC) an early 1-0 lead over the Gators (21-20, 8-11 SEC).
Coppola rebounded to retire the side in order in the third while raising his strikeout total to six. After a leadoff walk to begin the bottom of the fourth, Jameson took over on the mound and worked through the frame by inducing an inning-ending, 5-4-3 double play. Jameson then fired a clean frame in the fifth to hold the one-run deficit.
Jameson plunked the leadoff man in the sixth, but recorded three-consecutive outs to strand the runner on third heading into the seventh inning. That allowed Florida to tie that game at one run apiece in the top of the seventh, as the Gators placed runners at the corners with two outs thanks in large part to a double to left field by Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/16370>. From there, Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/16372> got into a rundown at first base and Heyman raced home on a throwing error by McLaughlin at first base to give UF its lone run of the night.
With the matchup knotted at 1-1, Luke McNeillie<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-mcneillie/16629> sent the contest into the eighth by striking out all three batters he faced in the seventh. The Gators then loaded the bases in the eighth on a Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365> single sandwiched between two walks, but the Orange & Blue came up empty.
Arkansas regained a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth. With one out and Razorbacks at the corners, Jared Sprague-Lott produced a sacrifice fly to right field to bring home Ty Wilmsmeyer in what proved to be the game-winning run.
Razorbacks reliever Gabe Gaeckle (3-2) picked up the win, firing two scoreless innings on one hit and two walks while fanning three.
McNeillie (3-6) received the loss, tossing two frames with one earned run allowed on one hit and one walk. He struck out three.
Coppola did not factor into the decision after throwing three-plus innings. The southpaw allowed just one earned run on one hit and one walk while striking out six.
Arkansas starter Hagen Smith also received a no-decision on seven innings of one-run ball (zero earned). He surrendered two hits, walked one and struck out 11.
NOTABLES
* Friday night’s official attendance was 10,551.
* Coppola fanned a season-high six batters in his third start of the campaign.
* Caglianone extended his on-base streak to 27 games and hitting streak to 20 games.
* Over the last eight games, the Florida offense has scored 58 runs on 80 hits.
* That features 55 runs on 74 hits in the team’s last 59 offensive half-innings.
* Across the team’s last 72 tilts against SEC teams, Florida is 45-27.
* That includes a 37-24 regular-season mark.
* The Gators are 46-24 in weekend series since the start of last season and 55-27 across their last 28 series.
* Florida is now 35-37 all-time vs. Arkansas including an 11-17 mark in Fayetteville
* The Gators are 17-23 against the Razorbacks under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1752> (4-9 away).
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the game…
“First of all, Pierce (Coppola) threw the ball great. I thought Fisher (Jameson) threw the ball great. He came in and did his job. I thought Luke came in and threw the ball really well. We probably (got) gifted a run there in the first and third play, they made a mistake. I thought we swung the bats well tonight, considering. I know we had the three hits on the night but from the very beginning of the game, we went base hit back up the middle. Jac hit the ball hard to center. Then, obviously, Colby got hit by a pitch. You’ve got first and second with one out and we go down looking again. We just can’t. You don’t get that many opportunities with runners in scoring position against pitchers like that. Then Luke came up behind him and hit a ball to right center field. Maybe if the wind’s not blowing the way that it is that ball probably gets out of here…”
On Coppola and the team handling the environment…
“Yeah, but we’re finding ways to lose rather than to win. If you’re going to beat Hagen Smith, it’s going to be 2-1, 3-2. He was really good tonight. He had command of all of his pitches. As soon as we started hitting some fastballs early in the first inning, he immediately flipped the switch and went off speed early in the count and was finishing us with fastballs. I think, for the most part, we had as good of at-bats as you can ask for against a guy that’s probably the best pitcher in the country and we did it on the road. This isn’t horseshoes. Just because you’re close, in this situation, we’re trying to gather as many wins as we can and we just obviously didn’t do enough. We made a couple critical mistakes that if we don’t make, I think the outcome of the game might have been a little different.”
On Saturday’s doubleheader…
“Playing 18 innings tomorrow. We’ve gotta figure out what game Jac’s going to pitch if he’s going to throw the first one or the second one. Probably going to come down to what the weather’s going to look like tomorrow. That’ll give us an option of what we need to do. We’ll monitor the weather and see what it looks like tomorrow morning before we get to the ballpark.”
UP NEXT
Florida and Arkansas will play a true doubleheader on Saturday, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. ET on ESPN2 in game one. The nightcap will begin approximately 45 minutes after the conclusion of game one and stream on SEC Network+.
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