Florida’s bullpen had its work cut out for it Saturday afternoon, as UF sophomore pitcher Aidan King found himself in trouble against the bats of No. 4 Arkansas.
King lasted just four full innings of action and surrendered three runs, but the relief play of sophomore Jackson Barberi and freshman Joshua Whritenour saved the day for the Gators.
Barberi earned the win with a team-high seven strikeouts, while Whritenour earned the save, closing the game to log the final six outs of the day.
Florida (22-6, 5-3 SEC) iced the Razorbacks (19-9, 4-4 SEC) 7-4 on Saturday afternoon in Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the team’s first road series win in Baum-Walker Stadium since 2016.
The Gators drew first blood once again with two runs in the second. Senior outfielder Blake Cyr led off with a double to left-center field, and junior infielder Cade Kurland was walked. Then, freshman outfielder Cash Strayer was hit by a pitch, giving Florida loaded bases.
With two outs, sophomore outfielder Kyle Jones barreled one to center field for a 2 RBI single, scoring Kurland and Cyr to make it a 2-0 advantage. Sophomore infielder Brendan Lawson was then walked, giving Florida loaded bases again with two outs. But sophomore infielder Ethan Surowiec grounded out to leave the bags stranded.
However, the Razorbacks responded in the bottom. Junior infielder Nolan Souza singled through the left side with two outs and proceeded to steal second. Then, junior infielder Reese Robinett drove in Souza with an RBI single to right field to make it a one-run game after two.
The hit-by-pitch on Strayer’s hand ended up taking him out of the game, as senior Ashton Wilson took his place in the outfield.
King saw trouble in the third, as he surrendered a leadoff walk and two base hits to hand Arkansas loaded bases with no outs. Right after, King’s wild pitch allowed Razorback freshman catcher Carter Rutenbar to touch home to tie the game.
Junior catcher Ryder Helfrick then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate junior outfielder Damian Ruiz as Arkansas took a 3-2 lead. King limited the damage, forcing two outs, but the Razorbacks saw their first advantage of the series after three
The Gators left two more runners stranded in the fourth, as Schwarz’s single and stolen base, along with Jones’s forced walk, resulted in zero runs.
King surrendered a single and a walk in the fourth with two outs, leading him to be relieved for sophomore righty Jackson Barberi. King finished with three strikeouts while surrendering five hits and two walks. Barberi fanned his first batter, leaving two stranded to end the frame.
Arkansas starting sophomore pitcher Hunter Dietz issued a leadoff walk to Bowen in the fifth, which resulted in him being relieved for fellow sophomore Steele Eaves.
Bowen advanced to second on a balk call right after. Kurland followed up with an RBI single to left-center field to send Bowen home to notch the game at three runs apiece. Then, Stanford launched a two-run bomb to left field to give the Gators a two-run advantage again.
Barberi retired the order to end the fifth, capped off by his second strikeout of the game. Junior righty Cooper Dossett took over the hill for Arkansas in the sixth to follow.
Barberi and Dossett dealt in the sixth, as both teams went down in order.
Arkansas threatened in the seventh, as a fielding error from Lawson allowed Ruiz to reach third. After he stole second, Ruiz advanced to third on a wild pitch. But Barberi worked around the mistakes, fanning his seventh Razorback to leave one stranded.
The Gators earned loaded bases in the eighth. Freshman outfielder Jacob Kendall led off with a single to center field, while Jones and Lawson followed up with walks to juice the bags.
Surowiec grounded out into a double-play, but it was just enough to send Kendall home to extend the lead to three runs. Bowen continued his hot weekend with a double to left-center to send Jones home to put Florida up 7-3.
But a couple of fielding errors from Florida put two Razorbacks on base with no outs. Barberi was relieved for freshman Joshua Whritenour right after.
Helfrick scored on a wild pitch from Whritenour to cut Florida’s lead to three in the eighth. He then issued a walk to put runners in the corners but forced a groundout to strand two Razorbacks.
Despite surrendering a double in the bottom of the ninth, Whritenour shut the door on the Razorbacks once again, logging the final three outs to take game two and seal a top-five series win for the Gators.
Florida will go for the sweep Sunday with first pitch set for 1 p.m.
Contact Adrian Carmona at acarmona@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @abcarmona04.
Adrian is a senior journalism major and the baseball reporter for the Spring of 2026. He previously served as the soccer reporter in the fall of 2025. He enjoys playing Sporcle quizzes and ranting about South Florida sports.
