FAYETTEVILLE - For a brief time Saturday, it looked like Arkansas might sweep the nation’s fourth-ranked team.
Like good teams do, though, Florida avoided that fate with three runs in the top of the seventh inning, holding off the No. 18 Razorbacks for a 5-3 win at Baum Stadium.
Daniel Pigott’s two-run single in the seventh gave the Gators the lead for good after the Razorbacks had taken the lead a half-inning earlier. Pigott’s hit came off Arkansas reliever Trent Daniel, but the losing run was charged to Nolan Sanburn, who left the game with runners on the corners and no outs earlier in the seventh.
Sanburn, once Arkansas’ freshman closer, suffered his third loss in as many weekends after blowing a pair of save opportunities at Kentucky and Georgia.
“Hindsight is 20-20, but I wish I wouldn’t have started him that inning,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “He finished real good in the sixth, hadn’t thrown very many pitches and we wanted him to get a couple of more hitters in the seventh. He started out with a 1-2 count and threw a pitch right down the middle.
“He’s got a great arm, but he’s got to learn how to pitch. That’s disappointing.”
The Razorbacks (32-15, 12-12 SEC) had taken a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning on Dominic Ficociello’s two-run double that came with two outs. Ficociello, a freshman, extended his team-leading RBI count to 45 with the hit.
Ficociello had been one of the heroes of Arkansas’ comeback win Friday night, but it wasn’t to be Saturday.
Florida (36-12, 18-6) led off the seventh inning with back-to-back singles by Nolan Fontana and Mike Zunino, chasing Sanburn, who entered the inning in line for the win.
Preston Tucker’s RBI single off Daniel tied the game before Pigott’s go-ahead hit. Pigott, a junior outfielder, finished the weekend 5-for-10 with three RBIs.
“It’s so important, especially in an atmosphere like this to stay away from them getting momentum,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “They got it, and then we turned right around the next inning and got the momentum back, and that was big.
“I thought Nolan (Fontana) did a great job starting that inning off, got a two-strike hit, and then tucker hits a ball the other way thgrough the 6-hole . We did a really good job offensively that inning.”
Florida snapped an eight-game losing streak in Fayetteville with the win and avoided being swept at Baum Stadium for the third consecutive trip.
The Gators took a 1-0 lead on Austin Maddox’ RBI single in the top of the second inning and doubled the lead on Fontana’s solo home run in the top of the fifth.
Arkansas pulled within 2-1 on Matt Reynolds’ solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. The Razorbacks had several scoring opportunities in the late innings, with at least one base-runner reaching each inning between the third and eighth innings.
Arkansas stranded four runners for the game and was caught stealing two more times.
“We left some out there,” Van Horn said, “but we hit a lot of balls hard. They made some pitches.
“We had some at-bats that if we could get them back; who knows? That’s just the way it is.”
Cade Lynch struggled in the start for the Razorbacks, lasting just four innings. The sophomore left-hander gave up one run on two hits, but threw 79 pitches.
Florida freshman Karsten Whitson was chased following Ficociello’s hit in the sixth inning. The right-hander scattered six hits over 5 2/3 innings, a
Maddox picked up his second win of the season in relief by tossing 3 1/3 innings, with just one walk.
Both teams entered the weekend tied for the lead in their respective divisions. Arkansas is a half-game up on Alabama and Auburn in the SEC West, while the Gators are a half-game behind South Carolina and Vanderbilt in the SEC East.
“I thought we battled extremely well all weekend,” Van Horn said. “We were with them every step.”
The Razorbacks won’t play again until next Friday with the start of a three-game series at South Carolina.
You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.
