After a demoralizing 7-0 shutout loss Saturday, Florida was heading in a similar direction in the series finale against Arkansas. The Razorbacks scored five times in the top of the second inning to open up a four-run advantage.
From there, it was all Florida. The Gators came roaring back with eight unanswered runs to win their third conference series in a row and take down a top-5 team.
Florida (30-16, 8-13 SEC) defeated No. 5 Arkansas (37-9, 14-7) at Condron Ballpark 9-5 on Sunday to complete the series victory.
“We can’t take anything for granted,” UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We literally got to take it game by game. But I think having a marquee series win on our resume certainly should help our confidence.”
Redshirt junior right-hander Billy Barlow struggled on the mound in his first SEC start of the year, lasting just 1 1/3 innings. He threw a scoreless first inning, but the second frame didn’t go as well.
The first five Razorbacks to come to the plate all reached base, and four of them scored. Barlow hit two batters and surrendered two hits and a walk before departing from the game. By the time his afternoon ended, he had gotten four outs and gave up four earned runs on two hits and three hit-by-pitches without striking out a batter.
Sophomore right-hander Alex Philpott replaced him, coming in with the bases loaded and only one away in the disastrous second. He allowed all three inherited runners to score, two of which came home on a double from Arkansas sophomore first baseman Cam Kozeal. By the time the frame ended, Arkansas had scored five runs.
After that, Philpott settled in. He tossed a pair of one-two-three innings in the third and fourth. O’Sullivan pulled him to begin the fifth inning after sitting down the final seven batters he faced.
Redshirt freshman righty Christian Rodriguez entered in the fifth. He faced the first three batters before Luke McNeillie came in from the bullpen. The sophomore righty stranded two runners in the scoreless frame.
“What probably gets lost in this game a little bit is Luke McNeillie’s effort,” O’Sullivan said. “He recorded five outs and bounced back from Friday night’s outing and got a big strikeout with runners on second and third.”
He then tossed a one-two-three sixth inning with a pair of strikeouts before O’Sullivan turned to his closer, redshirt sophomore Jake Clemente, in the seventh. After a perfect eight-out save in the first game of the series on Friday, Clemente aimed to get a nine-out save to close out the weekend.
He wasn’t as sharp as in his previous appearance, but Clemente got the job done. He threw three scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks with four strikeouts to complete the save, cementing the critical series victory.
“Just wanted to get the win, for sure,” Clemente said. “Fans were behind my back cheering every pitch. That was awesome.”
Florida got on the scoreboard early on Sunday. With two outs in the bottom of the first, junior catcher Luke Heyman and junior left fielder Blake Cyr hit back-to-back doubles to plate the first run of the game. The Gators added another in the second on an RBI groundout from sophomore center fielder Hayden Yost.
UF started to find its rhythm again in the fourth inning. After a single and a walk early in the frame, the Gators got two straight RBI singles from junior second baseman Justin Nadeau and senior shortstop Bobby Boser, which cut the deficit to one.
After Cyr walked, junior designated hitter Brody Donay split the right-center gap for a double. The right fielder fumbled the ball, allowing Cyr to score and completing Florida’s four-run comeback, tying the game 5-5.
In the next inning, Yost led with a single and scored on an RBI double from Boser to give Florida its first lead of the game. Freshman third baseman Brendan Lawson followed with a run-scoring double to make it a two-run UF lead.
Florida expanded the gap in the seventh as senior right fielder Ty Evans blasted his first homer of the year: a 402-foot solo shot to center field. Sunday was Evans’ first time in the starting lineup since April 5.
“It was a good feeling [to be starting],” Evans said. “I was ecstatic, obviously, to go out there and win a series today, being in the lineup. It was incredible.”
The Gators tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI fielder’s choice from Cyr. Florida ended the afternoon having scored in seven of the eight innings it came to the plate.
All nine batters in UF’s lineup recorded a hit on Sunday, with six scoring runs and six having at least one RBI. Boser and Lawson were the two standout performers. The senior went 3-for-5 with a double and a pair of RBIs. The freshman went 2-for-4 with a walk and one run driven in.
“I really felt like our offense was feeling good,” O’Sullivan said. “They had a really good pregame, we had a really good positive talk. When we got off to that rough start, we needed to keep our chins up and keep grinding.”
With a signature series win over the No. 5 team in the country, Florida improved its chances of making a postseason push with three regular season series remaining.
The Gators will hit the road to take on South Carolina next weekend. The Gamecocks are 5-16 in SEC play this year and coming off a series loss to Kentucky. First pitch in the series opener on Friday in Columbia, South Carolina, is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
Contact Hugh Green at hgreen@alligator.org. Follow him on X @HGreen_15
Hugh is the Spring 2025 baseball beat reporter for The Alligator. He is a fourth-year journalism sports and media major. In his free time, Hugh enjoys watching all kinds of sports with his friends.
