Hogs Take Series With 5-3 Win

FAYETTEVILLE - Coming off a pair of disappointing conference series losses and with a pair of top five teams on deck, there were questions coming into the weekend whether Arkansas would be able to even make the postseason, let alone maintain its position atop the SEC West standings.

Through two games, the No. 18 Razorbacks have more than answered their critics.

Randall Fant pitched six strong innings and Barrett Astin didn’t allow a base-runner in three innings of relief as Arkansas beat No. 4 Florida 5-3 Friday night in front of 9,032 fans at Baum Stadium.

Playing their fourth game in as many days, the Razorbacks won the three-game series against the Gators following a one-run win Thursday.

“We’re nearing the end of our monster week we’ve been talking about,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “These guys have handled it pretty good and shown how tough they are.”

Arkansas (32-14, 12-11 SEC) used a two-out rally in the bottom of the third inning to take the lead for good. Ficociello’s RBI single tied the game and Kyle Robinson followed with a two-run double to give the Razorbacks a 4-2 lead.

Ficociello, a freshman switch-hitter, improved his batting average to .348 following the game with a team-leading 41 RBIs.

“I think we’ve constantly been growing throughout the year, said Ficociello, who finished the game 1-for-2 with a pair of RBIs. “Whether we win a series or lose a series, our goal has been to grow each and every game. We’ve been taking that seriously and a lot of guys have been stepping up.”

The Razorbacks touched up Florida left-hander Brian Johnson, who lasted just four innings on the mound. Like Hudson Randall the night before, Arkansas handed a Gators’ pitcher just his second loss of the season.

“We faced a really good pitcher tonight and some really good relievers,” Van Horn said. “We scored just enough runs to win.”

After Collin Kuhn scored to give Arkansas a lead in the first inning, Florida took a 2-1 lead on RBIs by Austin Maddox in the second inning and Mike Zunino in the third.

The Gators (35-12, 17-6) pulled within 4-3 in the fifth when Bryson Smith scored from third on a double play to the right side of the infield.

“We fell behind early, but I was pleased with how we bounced back during the third,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I thought we got some momentum. and then we turned back around gave up three runs with two outs. That’s kind took the momentum away.”

Arkansas had several chances to extend its lead in the late innings, but Gators reliever Tommy Toledo repeatedly worked out of jams. The Razorbacks stranded a pair of base-runners in each the sixth and seventh innings before finally breaking through on a Franco Broyles two-out RBI single in the eighth to extend the lead to 5-3.

Jarrod McKinney grounded out in the next at-bat to strand the bases loaded. Arkansas left nine base-runners on the bags for the game.

“I was a little worried when we left some runners out there,” Van Horn said. “Broyles got a big hit that went off the third baseman’s glove. That ball was hit really hard and gave us an insurance run.”

A one-run lead was cushion enough for Astin, however, who retired all nine batters he faced to earn his first save of the season. Astin and Fant combined to retire the final 14 Florida batters in order.

Fant picked up his second win of the season by scattering three runs on seven hits over six innings. The sophomore left-hander struck out three batters, while Astin fanned four.

The duo combined to provide a nice encore to DJ Baxendale’s complete game win Thursday night.

“I’m pretty good in these situations,” Astin said. “I just come in and do what they tell me to do. Tonight the plan was for me to go two innings and then have Daniel come in and shut it down, but I was doing good and wasn’t allowing anything.

“That’s a good team – probably one of the best teams in the country. Our pitching staff has done a good job this weekend and we’ll have pretty much a full force tomorrow.”

The series win is Arkansas’ first over a top five team since beating No. 1 Vanderbilt at home in 2007. The Razorbacks have now won eight straight games over Florida at Baum Stadium.

Arkansas will go for the series sweep Saturday night with a first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPNU. Sophomore left-hander Cade Lynch will get the start on the mound for the Razorbacks, while the Gators will counter with freshman right-hander Karsten Whitson.

You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.