The packed crowd at Condron Ballpark cheered batter after batter as it watched history unfold Friday night. The 6,542 fans who attended the series opener between Florida and Arkansas in Gainesville were treated to a show as sophomore right-hander Liam Peterson started on the mound for the Gators and diced up the No. 5 team in the country.
Going into the night, Peterson’s career high in strikeouts for a game was 11. He matched that number through the first four innings and topped it in the sixth with a pair of punchouts, setting a new career best of 13.
“He was special tonight,” UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Certainly, he deserves all the credit, because he pitched extremely well.”
Florida (29-15, 7-12 SEC) upset No. 5 Arkansas (36-8, 13-6) at Condron Ballpark 6-4, as the Gators won their seventh straight home game and took the series opener in a crucial conference matchup.
Peterson was dialed in throughout his outing but gave up a pair of early runs on two solo homers. The second batter of the game, Arkansas junior shortstop Wehiwa Aloy, blasted a no-doubt shot to left field that put the Razorbacks ahead. In the second inning, sophomore first baseman Cam Kozeal led off with an opposite-field bomb, letting the visitors take an early 2-0 lead.
The righty settled in after the two long balls, putting up four consecutive scoreless innings. He also scattered a pair of singles in those four frames with two one-two-three innings. O’Sullivan sent Peterson back to the mound for the seventh inning, already with 105 pitches. In a nine-pitch battle, he walked the leadoff man in the frame and was replaced.
“It was really fun,” Peterson said. “That team is really good. So, being able to do that and, on top of that, get a win, it’s a lot of fun to play right now on this team, and we’re having a lot of energy.”
In total, Peterson threw six-plus innings on 114 pitches and gave up three earned runs on five hits and two walks with a career-high 13 strikeouts.
Sophomore Luke McNeillie came out of the bullpen for UF. He got one out before surrendering a two-run opposite-field homer to junior center fielder Justin Thomas Jr. That ended McNeillie’s night after just nine pitches as O’Sullivan went to his closer, redshirt sophomore righty Jake Clemente, with one away in the seventh inning.
Clemente did exactly what was asked of him, earning an eight-out save. He tossed a perfect 2 2/3 innings on just 31 pitches and struck out three batters. This marked his fourth save of the year since entering the closer role for the Gators.
“He’s been looking really good from the closer role,” Peterson said. “He goes out there, great fastball, he’s been landing his slider a lot more. When he does both of those things, it’s tough to hit him, so it’s good to see him get out there and just continue to dominate.”
Florida was held off the basepaths for the first eight batters of the game. The first player to reach base was junior second baseman Justin Nadeau, who got aboard with an infield single in the third inning. In the ensuing at-bat, Arkansas starting left-hander Zach Root tossed a pickoff attempt into right field, which allowed Nadeau to score all the way from first to plate the first Gators run of the game.
“Root was as good early as we’ve seen all year long,” O’Sullivan said. “He had all four pitches working. The first time through the lineup, he was really sharp.”
Nadeau’s single seemed to rally UF’s offense, as the Gators looked much more comfortable the second and third times through the order. In the fourth inning, junior shortstop Colby Shelton led off with a walk, followed by a single from freshman first baseman Brendan Lawson and an RBI base hit by junior left fielder Blake Cyr.
Florida continued its hot hitting in the fifth inning, rattling off three consecutive singles. The third was an RBI base hit for Lawson. Junior catcher Luke Heyman followed with a three-run bomb. This marked Heyman’s 10th long ball of the year and his second consecutive game with a home run.
“I was just sitting heater,” Heyman said. “It was a little up, but I was able to get to it and put a good swing on it. It felt good.”
The four-run inning proved to be the difference in the game, as the Gators racked up six unanswered runs to take the opening game of the series.
Florida will look to win its third consecutive SEC series on Saturday in the second game of its series against Arkansas. The Gators will have freshman right-hander Aidan King on the mound, who is 4-1 with a 3.63 ERA this season. First pitch at Condron Ballpark is scheduled for 3 p.m.
“Everyone knows how important these games are down the stretch,” O’Sullivan said. “So, obviously it was big for us to get the first one, but certainly, there’s a long way to go on this weekend. Just glad we got the first one.”
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.
