Talk about a tough break.
The No. 22 Florida Gators had to fight off two comeback attempts by Arkansas in their 9-7 win over the Razorbacks, both led by the bat of junior [autotag]Zack Gregory[/autotag].
Gregory reached base four times in the loss, going 2-for-2 at the plate with four RBI, a walk, and a hit by pitch. Arkansas head coach [autotag]Dave Van Horn[/autotag] was pleased with the efforts of Gregory and wishes that he could have gotten more assistance from the rest of the lineup.
“(Gregory) did everything he could to help us win,” said Van Horn in Saturday’s postgame press conference. “He got hit by a pitch, he took a big walk. He fought, fought, fought, and finally doubled down the right field line on a full count to score three runs. Then, in his last at-bat, he hit the home run. He did everything he could, we just needed one more guy to have a day.”
After Florida delivered a punch in the form of a four-run inning in the 3rd, Arkansas responded by scoring four runs of their own in the top of the 4th, with Gregory being instrumental in the counter. With one run across in the inning, and the bases loaded, Gregory would show his patience by hitting a line drive down the right field line to clear the bags and tie the game at 4-4.
The definition of clutch pic.twitter.com/nUHO9j8Frf
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) April 9, 2022
Arkansas found themselves in a hole again going to the 8th inning down 7-6. In their time of need, Gregory came through in the clutch yet again.
Gregory would hit a no-doubt home run over the right field wall to tie the game yet again, this time at 7-7 with one inning remaining.
HE'S LIKE THAT @_Gregory21 pic.twitter.com/zNp5yZxuXd
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) April 9, 2022
“He got ahead in the count, he got what he was looking for and he hit it 450 feet with that wind behind it. It probably would have gone 420 feet without it,” says Van Horn.
Following Saturday’s game, Gregory is now batting .296 with four home runs and 12 RBI in 24 games. Saturday was the third time that Gregory has recorded multiple hits in a game this season, and has hit safely in six of his last seven games.
[lawrence-related id=7817]Greg