The No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks (37-8, 14-6 SEC) bounced back and evened the series Saturday against the Florida Gators (29-17, 7-14 SEC) with a 7-0 win at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida.
Right-handed junior Gage Wood made his fourth start of the season and his second in the last two weekends and made the most of it. He's still working his way back from a shoulder injury, but pitched three innings of shutout ball which included five strikeouts and just one hit allowed.
Florida trotted out right-hander Aidan King, and despite four innings of solid pitching, got chased in the fifth frame. The Hogs scored six runs in the inning, though only one of those was charged to King as an earned run, as Florida committed two errors.
The Hogs' bats were slow to start but broke the game open with the aforementioned six-run fifth inning. After they struck out 13 times Friday, the Razorbacks responded and struck out just six times and drew five walks Saturday. The Hogs recorded seven hits and were 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
Charles Davalan got the game started with a leadoff single, but Wehiwa Aloy, Kuhio Aloy and Carson Boles all grounded out to third base to strand him at second.
In the bottom of the first, Wood retired all three batters he faced on just 11 pitches. He induced a groundout back to the mound for the first out, struck out the next batter and the inning ended with a popout.
Rocco Peppi drew a walk with one out in the top of the second, but Arkansas couldn't get anything going as Ryder Helfrick and Gabe Fraser both struck out swinging to leave him stranded at first. Wood got back out on the mound and had another 11-pitching inning that featured two strikeouts and a groundout to close out the second.
The Hogs still couldn't get anything going in the top of the third, as Justin Thomas Jr. flied out to left and both Davalan and Wehiwa Aloy popped out in foul ground. Wood came back out in the bottom of the frame and despite a two-out double, didn't allow the Gators to push any runs across with a strikeout to end the inning.
Arkansas got some baserunners in the top of the fourth inning courtesy of singles by both Kuhio Aloy and Brent Iredale, which prompted a mound visit by Florida head coach Kevin O'Sullivan, but King got out of the inning with consecutive flyouts by Peppi and Helfrick.
Gaeckle came on in the fourth for Wood and retired the side in order thanks to some help from his teammates. Iredale made an incredible play on a foul out that was caught mere inches from the net, and after Florida's Luke Keyman struck out on a wild pitch, Helfrick ran down the ball to make the out at first base.
Arkansas broke the scoring open in the top of the fifth. The Hogs loaded the bases without a hit, as Gabe Fraser was hit by a pitch, Thomas Jr. reached on an error and, after a Davalan bunt moved the runners over, Wehiwa Aloy was intentionally walked.
With the bases loaded, Kuhio Aloy snuck a single up the middle that scored two runs to give the Hogs a 2-0 lead, and Carson Boles hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Wehiwa Aloy. Iredale then hit a ground-rule double that scored Kuhio Aloy. Cam Kozeal came in to pinch hit for Peppi, and he blasted a two-run shot to right field to put Arkansas up 6-0.
The Gators threatened in both the bottom of the fifth and sixth and had two runners each time, but Gaeckle was able to maneuver his way out of each inning without allowing any runs.
Gaeckle's day ended in the bottom of the seventh after he walked two batters, but redshirt sophomore right-hander Aiden Jimenez came in and got the Hogs out of the inning unscathed by inducing a double-play to keep the Gators out of the scoring column.
The Razorbacks got some baserunners in the eighth inning and were able to tack on another run thanks to a sacrifice fly from Wehiwa Aloy. In the bottom of the inning, Florida almost scored their first run of the game after a double by Landon Stripling, but Wehiwa Aloy threw out the runner at home. It was initially called safe, but the umpires reviewed and overturned the call.
Arkansas went quietly in the top of the ninth, and Jimenez went back out to finish the game. He induced groundouts to third base and shortstop before he allowed a single, and an error by Kozeal put runners on the corners with two outs, but Jimenez locked in and struck out Ashton Wilson to end the game.
Up next, the Razorbacks will look to take the series win — which would be the first in Gainesville since 2012 — in a rubber match Sunday. If they lose, it will be the Hogs' third straight SEC series loss, which they haven't done since 2016.
First pitch is set for noon CT and the game will air on SEC Network+.
