Gator Baseball Sweeps Series Over Arkansas With Late Surge

Behind a five run sixth inning and a strong performance on the mound, the second ranked Gator (33-5/11-4 SEC) baseball team defeated Arkansas (21-15/4-11 SEC) 8-2 to sweep the weekend series. This is the first sweep the Gators have gotten over the Razorbacks since 2001. Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan likes how his team fought and battled on the road this weekend.

Alex Faedo got the start for the Gators and bounced back well from his poor outing against Mississippi State last week. Faedo allowed just one run on five hits, while striking out 10 batters through 6.1 innings. This was the third time this season Faedo has reached double digit strikeouts. He was in a jam in the second inning; he loaded the bases with no outs but was able to escape without giving up any runs.

Florida’s offense didn’t get going until the sixth inning where they opened things up. After being no hit for five innings, Jeremy Vasquez scored the game’s first run when Buddy Reed was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. After a sacrifice fly from JJ Schwarz made it 2-0, junior Peter Alonso launched a three run homer pushing the Gators lead to 5-0. Alonso now has eight home runs this season and 17 in his career.

The Gators would go on to score one run in the remaining three innings to add insurance to their lead. Florida’s bullpen shut the door on Arkansas to clinch its fourth straight win over the Razorbacks.

Up next the Gators have a mid-week game against Jacksonville and a weekend series against Georgia. O’Sullivan knows this next week ahead will be a challenge. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 7 P.M.