Florida Baseball Starts Series Against Arkansas Tonight

Florida’s baseball team faces No. 2 Arkansas in Fayetteville tonight for the first game of a three-game series.

The Gators (21-19) are coming off of a 13-3 win over the Stetson Hatters Tuesday. Florida pitcher Jac Caglianone hit two home runs during the game, and he had two of Florida’s seven on the night.

Florida hasn’t been to Fayetteville since 2021. They lost all three games of the series, and this season, the Razorbacks are 35-6 and 14-4 in conference play.

Disappointment for the Gators

Florida’s win over the Hatters prevented its record from falling to .500. The unranked Gators were ranked No. 3 in the preseason by the USA Today Top-25 college baseball poll. Now, with less than a month left, the Gators are being threatened with the chance of recording a losing record. They went on a six-game losing streak from April 5-13. With 14 games left in the regular season, 12 of which are SEC opponents, Florida has less than a month to shape up for the SEC Tournament and NCAA Regionals.

Cierra Clark talks Razorback

Cierra Clark, a TV Reporter for THV11 in Little Rock, Arkansas, joined Sports Scene this week to preview the series. She said to expect a rowdy and loud crowd because the Razorbacks are the talk of the town with no professional teams in the state.

She said hog fans are passionate about all of the university’s sports, even if the fans didn’t attend the school.

Moreover, Clark said low-scoring games have become more difficult for the Razorbacks because it becomes more of a mental challenge.

https://twitter.com/GatorsBB/status/1783843470483894604

Arkansas’ Hagen Smith will likely start on the mound in Game 1. He’s been unbelievable this year. So far, he has an 8-0 record with a 1.53 ERA in 53 innings. He’s struck out 100 batters, as well.

UF has yet to announce a starter for Friday’s game.

The series opener has been moved up an hour due to expected weather conditions. The game will start at 7 p.m. at Baum-Walker Stadium.