All Hogs

Arkansas' middle inning struggles costly in series opener to Florida

Four-spot in the fifth sinks Razorbacks against Gators
Daniel Shi|
Arkansas Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn in the dugout against the Missouri Tigers at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark.
Arkansas Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn in the dugout against the Missouri Tigers at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nelson Roman-Hogs on SI Images

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Arkansas RazorbacksFlorida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — An errant pickoff throw set off a domino effect that eventually became No. 5 Arkansas' undoing in a 6-4 loss to the Florida Gators Friday.

Razorback starter Zach Root retired the first eight Florida hitters but second baseman Justin Nadeau broke the seal with a groundball single.

On a 2-2 count, Root threw an errant pickoff throw that rolled all the way down the line in right before it came to rest on the warning track in a spacious foul territory.

Nadeau took off and scored all the way from first to cut a 2-0 lead in half.

"We just felt like he was running and he was," coach Dave Van Horn said on the called pickoff. "He threw it up and out. First baseman didn't catch it. You saw what happened. The guys scores all the way from first base and It's kind of kind of shocking. As a pitcher, you'd probably rather give up a home run than that. Then he came back and finished off the hitter. He was pretty frustrated."

Things unraveled for Root in the next two innings as seven of the final 11 batters that Root faced reached.

Blake Cyr singled home to tying-run in the fourth. Root was able to perform a Houdini act and strand the bases loaded on a 3-2 sword with two outs to keep the game tied.

His luck ran out in the fifth. Brendan Lawson gave Florida the lead, one that the Gators wouldn't give back.

Van Horn went to Dylan Carter out of the bullpen, and Luke Heyman greeted him with a three-run shot to right.

The inherited runs that Carter allowed to score were charged to Root. It's the fourth straight start that Root has allowed at least three runs and back-to-back starts of at least five runs. He left with a season ERA of 4.50.

Arkansas' offense took the opposite route as Florida. The Razorbacks hit solo homers in the first two innings, getting early success off ace Liam Peterson.

"He’s a first-round draft choice," Van Horn said about Peterson. "The dude throws harder than most big league starters and he didn’t lose it."

The first four balls hit in play were on all on a line. Wehiwa Aloy hit his 17th homer of the year, entering the top 10 for single season homers in school history.

However, Peterson missed bats all night long, striking out 13 Arkansas hitters, a career-high for Peterson and also tied a stadium record.

Arkansas did cut the lead in half with a home run in the seventh, but once Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan went to his closer Jake Clemente, the Razorbacks never got another baserunner. Clemente went eight up, eight down on just 31 pitches.

The Razorbacks will look to avoid its third straight SEC series loss 2 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.

News And Notes:

Arkansas Suffers Double Whammy on Botched Pick-off:
Logan Maxwell started the game in right field but only played 3 1/2 innings before being lifted for Kendall Diggs. Maxwell reaggravated a lingering hamstring injury running after the ball that rolled down the line. Van Horn also said that he expects Maxwell to miss time. Maxwell and Diggs was 0-2 each and combined for three strikeouts.

"I'm not gonna play him tomorrow," Maxwell said. "I'm not even gonna –– I'm not even gonna –– I'm not planning on it at all. Let's put it that way. Just let him rest, try to heal up."

Strikeouts Piling Up:
Along with it being a season-high 16 strikeouts, it's the 10th time in 19 SEC games that the team has reached double-digits. It's happened in now five of the last seven conference games. Charles Davalan also struck out three times for the first time this year. He came into the game with just 13 on the season.

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Daniel Shi
DANIEL SHI

Covers baseball, football and basketball for Arkansas Razorback on SI since 2023, previously writing for FanSided. Currently a student at the University of Arkansas. He’s been repeatedly jaded by the Los Angeles Angels since 2014. Probably silently humming along to whatever the band is playing in the press box. Follow me on X: @dsh12

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