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In what began as a pitchers’ duel between two SEC aces, senior Connor Noland outlasted Hunter Barco with seven scoreless innings on the mound.
The Razorbacks came within two outs of recording their first shutout of 2022, but a garbage-time run from the Gators led to a series-opening win by a large margin with Arkansas winning 8-1.
“We did what we needed to do, and that’s come in here and win Game 1 to give us a chance to get off to a really good start in the series,” head coach Dave Van Horn said.
Both starters came out of the gate with their best stuff, as the minimum number of batters were faced through three innings on both sides. Connor Noland allowed a hit to the Gators’ leadoff man in the top of the first, but an incredible scoop on a pitch in the dirt and throw to second from catcher Michael Turner caught the prospective base thief.
The Arkansas bats struggled initially, as Barco’s elite pitch repertoire lived up to high praise early in the game.
Their offensive production began in the top of the fourth, riding a couple free passes and a double steal to put runners in scoring position for Turner. Although he didn’t make solid contact, a two-out 70-foot single to the left side was good for an RBI single that gave the Hogs a lead they would not surrender the remainder of the night.
That was the beginning of Barco’s unraveling while Noland, on the other hand, continued his efficient work, pounding the zone with strikes and inducing soft contact with a high percentage of breaking balls.
Barco’s emotions boiled over when a few calls by the home plate umpire went against him.
“We almost broke through in the fourth with a really big inning, but we did get Barco’s pitch count up, and obviously it affected him later in the game where we took advantage of that and got him out of the game,” Van Horn said. “You could tell Barco was frustrated, but the zone was what it was. It was the same all night.”
After freshman Peyton Stovall led off the top of the fifth by getting hit with the first pitch of the inning, a sacrifice bunt from Zack Gregory shifted him into scoring position for Cayden Wallace. The star sophomore executed with an RBI single into right field, extending the lead to two heading into the half-way point of the game.
Graduate transfer Chris Lanzilli added some extra insurance an inning later with a leadoff shot into the visitors’ bullpen.
“Yeah, I hit a fastball,” Lanzilli said when asked about the pitch he took yard. “Was kind of sitting on that and ended up getting it. I know he was a little frustrated, showing his emotions a little bit.”
Barco followed that up by issuing a single to Turner, throwing a wild pitch and walking Jalen Battles on five pitches — at which point his night was over.
It was only the third time the Florida ace has lasted five innings or less. In those outings, the Gators are now 0-3 with Thursday’s loss.
Arkansas ended up stranding three runners on base that inning when reliever Tyler Nesbitt worked out of a jam to keep their deficit to three, but Noland continued his dominance in the back end of the sixth.
