Florida Gators
Arkansas
No. 24 Arkansas Rallies In Ninth To Down No. 7 Florida, 7-6
Thursday, May 21, 2015 | Baseball
HOOVER, Ala. – No. 24 Arkansas tallied three runs in the ninth inning to defeat No. 7 Florida, 7-6, on Wednesday night/Thursday morning at the 2015 SEC Tournament. With the victory, the Razorbacks (35-20) will next play No. 1 LSU (47-9) in a winner's bracket game tomorrow night, while the Gators (40-16) will meet Auburn (35-23) in an elimination game at approximately 2 p.m. on the SEC Network.
With UF three outs from securing the win, sophomore Andrew Benintendi, the 2015 SEC Player of the Year, brought the Hogs within 6-5 by leading off the ninth with a homer to right center off of senior Bobby Poyner (4-2). After a fly out by redshirt junior Tyler Spoon, junior Rick Nomura (3-for-4, three runs) drew a walk. Poyner and junior Bobby Wernes (2-for-4) then waged an intense back-and-forth battle before Wernes belted a go-ahead, two-run shot to left field on the 12th pitch of the at bat.
Gator sophomore Buddy Reed opened the bottom of the ninth with a base-hit up the middle and moved into scoring position on a grounder by senior Josh Tobias. A wild pitch by sophomore Zach Jackson pushed Reed to third base with two down but the right-hander closed the contest by striking out freshman pinch hitter Jeremy Vasquez to collect his sixth save and secure the win for redshirt senior Jackson Lowery (6-1).
Arkansas jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Nomura and Wernes opened the frame with consecutive singles off of sophomore Dane Dunning and redshirt junior Michael Bernal drew a one-out walk to load the bases. Sophomore Alex Gosser earned a free pass to score Nomura and sophomore Clark Eagan was hit by a pitch to bring home Wernes. Junior Taylor Lewis replaced Dunning and yielded a sacrifice fly into left field to senior Joe Serrano that plated Bernal.
Florida countered with three runs in the bottom of the stanza to even the game. Tobias, sophomore Peter Alonso and junior Harrison Bader each walked to fill the sacks, ending the night for freshman starter Keaton McKinney. Freshman JJ Schwarz (3-for-4, three RBI, two doubles) greeted sophomore reliever Dominic Taccolini with a single into right field that brought in Tobias and Alonso and he was able to take second on the relay throw. A fielding error by Wernes on a ball hit by freshman Mike Rivera enabled Bader to come in as the tying run.
The Gators loaded the bases with one down in the fourth but came away empty-handed. Schwarz led off with a double into right field and went to third on a fly ball by Rivera before back-to-back walks to sophomore Ryan Larson and freshman Dalton Guthrie. However, Reed flew out to left field and Schwarz was thrown out at the plate on a throw from Serrano to Gosser.
UF broke through for three runs in the fifth inning to seize a 6-3 advantage. Martin began the frame with a single into left field and Tobias walked before redshirt sophomore Josh Alberius uncorked a wild pitch that gave the Gators a pair of runners in scoring position. A ground ball by Bader put the Orange and Blue on top and both Schwarz and Rivera delivered run-scoring doubles for a 6-3 margin.
The Hogs had a golden opportunity to edge closer in the sixth when they loaded the sacks with one down but were kept at bay. After Lewis (3.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R) plunked Bernal to open the inning, sophomore Kirby Snead entered the contest and surrendered a pinch-hit double into right field by redshirt freshman Carson Shaddy. The left-hander answered with a strikeout of Eagan and junior Aaron Rhodes was summoned from the bullpen. The righty had Serrano pop up to second base and Benintendi was walked intentionally to fill the bags. Rhodes had Spoon fly out to preserve the three-run lead.
Redshirt junior Brett McAfee pulled Arkansas within 6-4 in the seventh on a one-out RBI single up the middle to score Nomura, who had started the inning with a triple to right field.
Postgame Quotes
Assistant Coach Brad Weitzel
On tonight's game:
“Two different times we scored three runs in an inning, we have to score more runs and tack on. We let them hang around and they came back. Things worked out well for us in the middle innings with our relief pitching. Usually, Bobby (Poyner) is very dependable and he's had a great year. That happens…sometimes you're not going to have your best stuff and just one swing there at the end. Last year, we lost the first game and battled back to reach the championship game, we'll see what happens tomorrow, we'll have them ready. The lesson is that the game is not over until the final out is made.”
Postgame Notes:
- Tonight was the first meeting at the SEC Tournament between the Gators and Razorbacks since May 27, 2010, a 5-4 Florida win.
- JJ Schwarz went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a pair of doubles in his SEC Tournament debut.
- Josh Tobias' career-high 12-game hitting streak came to an end with a 0-for-3 performance, although he drew two walks and scored twice.
- The Gators dropped to 1-2 at neutral sites this season.
Up Next
The Gators will play Auburn for the fourth time in a week in the second elimination game tomorrow. The game can be heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Mick Hubert and will be shown on the SEC Network and available through WatchESPN.
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