There goes the thought that UF had finally cleaned up the pitching and defensive woes that plagued the Gators during their recent five-game losing streak.
UF played its ugliest game of the season Sunday, as Arkansas blasted the Gators 10-4 to win the series.
The Razorbacks (19-15, 5-9 Southeastern Conference) took Friday's opener in a 2-1 defensive struggle. The Gators (24-12, 9-6 SEC) answered back on Saturday with a 6-1 victory.
Arkansas entered the three-game set at the bottom of the SEC West, but playing the Gators appeared to be the cure to their ailments.
UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan lamented the lost opportunity as UF enters a tough week with a game at Florida State on Tuesday and a weekend series at Kentucky on the horizon.
"This is disappointing because you've got to win your series at home," he said. "That's the bottom line, because we've got a tough road ahead of us. We've got three of the last five (series) on the road, a talented Kentucky team on the road and a series against Georgia that's probably the most talented team in our league."
UF committed an astounding six errors Sunday, which resulted in nearly as many unearned runs (4) for the Razorbacks as they earned (6).
"It was tough," first baseman Clayton Pisani said. "We couldn't get any momentum going and we couldn't back our pitchers up in the field.
"We've just got to keep working hard, play good defense and execute."
Arkansas took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning when center fielder Brett Eibner blasted a two-run single to right field off of Tommy Toledo.
The freshman, who started the season 4-0, had his third consecutive shaky outing, which ended in his third consecutive loss.
Toledo (4-3, 3.38 ERA) hurled five innings, allowing five runs on a whopping 10 hits.
"I've just been trying to get the leadoff man out, but they did a good job of hitting with two strikes," he said. "They hit the ball pretty well and were able to find some holes and scored some runs. Sometimes there's nothing you can do."
UF appeared to be on the verge of a rally in the bottom of the fourth when it cut the Razorbacks' lead to 3-2. Second baseman Josh Adams drove in Matt den Dekker and Cole Figueroa with a single through the right side. Designated hitter Bryson Barber singled to center shortly after but was caught in a rundown with Pisani at the plate.
The momentum the Gators seemed to build didn't carry over defensively, as they allowed two runs in each of the next three innings. Four of those runs were unearned.
"You're not going to win many games when you commit six errors," O'Sullivan said. "We really could never gain any momentum today. We pulled within one and then we had the base running mistake. We just could never get momentum; we'd score two and then next thing you know, we give up two. We just couldn't get anything going."
