The series opener between the No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks and the No. 22 Florida Gators began as expected, with both teams getting the most out of their aces.
Arkansas’s [autotag]Connor Noland[/autotag] matched with Florida’s Hunter Barco almost evenly through the first three innings, with Barco facing the minimum and Noland allowing just one hit.
Barco felt good about his performance through the first three innings, in which he had allowed zero baserunners and had three strikeouts. He could be seen on the SEC Network broadcast saying choice words following one of those strikeouts.
Once the lineup began its second rotation, it was very apparent that the Razorbacks had taken notes on how to attack Barco. After sending just three batters to the plate in each of the first three innings, Arkansas would score their first run of the game in the 4th inning on an RBI single to short by [autotag]Michael Turner[/autotag] as part of a seven-plate appearance inning.
Barco would continue to feel pressure, as he would hit his second batter in as many innings to begin the 4th, sending [autotag]Peyton Stovall[/autotag] to the base paths. He would later score on a single by [autotag]Cayden Wallace[/autotag] to extend the Arkansas lead to 2-0. The final run that Barco would surrender would come in the 5th inning, when [autotag]Chris Lanzilli[/autotag] led off the inning by crushing his 4th home run as a Razorback, and 46th of his collegiate career, over the left field wall to move Arkansas’ lead to 3-0. After a single by Turner, and a walk issued to Jalen Battles, Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan had seen enough, pulling Barco in favor of Tyler Nesbitt.
Arkansas’ bats would silence until the top of the 9th, when they exploded to score five runs headlined by back-to-back solo home runs by Cayden Wallace and [autotag]Braydon Webb[/autotag].
All-in-all, Arkansas outhit the Gators 12-3 in the win, with five Razorbacks recording multiple hits. Wallace and Turner paced Arkansas in the run-producing department with two RBI each.