No. 2 Florida (33-10/12-7 SEC) rallied from a
2-0 deficit with a three-run sixth inning and its bullpen worked three
scoreless innings in a 3-2 victory over No. 17 Arkansas (29-13/9-10 SEC) on
Friday night at McKethan Stadium in the opener of the teams’ weekend series.
After being held hitless into the sixth by Razorback sophomore Ryne Stanek
(6-3), the Gators tied the game on a two-out, two-run double by freshman Casey
Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) and seized the lead on an RBI single by junior
Austin Maddox (Jacksonville, Fla.).
Making his first Friday start since March 30
at Ole Miss, junior right-hander Hudson Randall (Atlanta, Ga.) (4-1)
yielded six hits and two runs over six innings to pick up the win, while the
trio of senior Greg Larson (Longwood, Fla.), junior Steven Rodriguez
(Miami, Fla.) and Maddox each tossed a scoreless frame. For Maddox, it was his
12th save in 12 opportunities, moving him to within one save of the school’s
single-season record shared by Danny Wheeler (1994) and Josh Fogg
(1998).
“You
have to tip your cap to [Ryne] Stanek,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan
said. “He was outstanding and left us hitless through five innings. I wasn’t
quite sure when our offense was going to get going, and that had a lot to do
with him on the mound. His stuff was really good tonight, but, equally I
thought Hudson Randall was really good tonight. He gave us a great start and
obviously our bullpen came in and did what they needed to do. We hung in there
and battled and that was the most important thing.”
