No. 5 Arkansas (36-8, 13-6 SEC) could not overcome the Florida Gators' (29-15, 7-12 SEC) fifth-inning rally in Friday night's series-opening loss, 6-4, at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Fla. The Razorbacks have lost five of their last six Southeastern Conference games.
Arkansas baseball vs Florida: Game one
Arkansas got on the board immediately in the top of the first inning when SS Wehiwa Aloy hit a solo home run to left field with one out for his 17th homer of the season. 1B Camden Kozeal extended the lead in the top of the second with a solo shot of his own to left center to lead off the frame and put the Hogs up 2-0.
Florida got on the board with 2B Justin Nadeau reaching out on a two-out single in the bottom of the third. LHP Zach Root attempted to pick him off but overthrew Kozeal. Nadeau scored all the way from first base on the error to cut the deficit to one.
Florida tied the game up with SS Colby Shelton drawing a walk and 1B Brendan Lawson singled to lead off the bottom of the fourth. After C Luke Heyman struck out swinging, LF Blake Cyr roped an RBI single to center field to score Shelton to tie the game up while Lawson moved over to third. DH Brody Donay reached on a fielder’s choice after Lawson was tagged out at home by C Ryder Helfrick on a ball that went barely in front of the plate.
CF Hayden Yost worked his way to a full count and walked on a pitch clock violation by Root to load the bases. Root got out of the game by striking out RF Ashton Wilson on a full count to keep the game knotted up, 2-2.
Wehiwa Aloy continues to solidify himself as a potential top-20 overall pick. Turns on this upper-90s FB and hammers it out of the stadium. Thunderous bat speed, 60 power. 90th EV of 108.8 this spring, consistently on the barrel. Approach has improved. pic.twitter.com/6O2snFgZc6
— Peter Flaherty III (@PeterGFlaherty) April 25, 2025
The Gators seized the lead with 3B Bobby Boser and Shelton lacing back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners with one out. Lawson punched in Boser with an RBI single to right field to put Florida out in front while Shelton advanced to third. Root was relieved by RHP Dylan Carter after giving up the RBI single.
Root went 4.1 innings in his 11th start of the year while allowing five runs (four earned), six hits and two walks with eight strikeouts on 87 pitches (59 strikes).
Heyman jumped on Carter with a three-run home run to left field to put Florida up by four, 6-2, to cap off the rally.
RHP Liam Peterson went six innings for the Gators while giving up three runs, five hits and two walks with 13 strikeouts on a staggering career-high 114 pitches (72 strikes).
Before Peterson was relieved by Luke McNeillie, he allowed a leadoff walk to 2B Gabe Fraser. After Helfrick flew out to center field to move Fraser to second, CF Justin Thomas Jr. crushed a two-run homer to right field off of McNeillie to cut the lead to two.
Carter was relieved by RHP Christian Foutch in the bottom of the seventh with a runner on first and one out. Carter tossed two innings of relief while surrendering a run, a hit and a walk with two strikeouts on 30 pitches (16 strikes).
RHP Jake Clemente picked up the save for Florida with 2.2 scoreless innings in relief. He did not allow a baserunner and carved up three batters on 31 pitches (21 strikes) to secure the win.
The Razorbacks and the Gators will meet back up at Condron Family Ballpark for the second game of the three-game series on Saturday. The first pitch is slated for 2 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.