GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Arkansas had a last gasp chance in the ninth inning to force extra innings and salvage its series at Florida.
But when catcher Grant Koch grounded out to first base with the tying run on second and two outs, the No. 4 Razorbacks came up short in a 5-4 loss to the No. 2 Gators before 4,510 at McKethan Stadium.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (17-7, 4-2 SEC) dropped the final two games of the SEC series against the Gators after winning 6-3 on Friday night.
"If we were 0-2 going into today and we got one, I'd be happy with one," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "But obviously we felt like we should have won the game today. We didn't make a couple of pitches, we didn't make a couple of plays, and we didn't drive anybody in. We felt like we should have had five or six runs going into the ninth. That's the disappointing part."
Florida designated hitter Nelson Maldonado hit a tie-breaking, two-run home run off Arkansas left-hander Matt Cronin in the bottom of the seventh, taking a shoulder-high fastball into the bleachers in left field to put the Gators up 5-3.
But Arkansas rallied in the ninth inning off Florida right-handed closer Michael Byrne. Heston Kjerstad led off with a double and moved to third on a double off the right-field wall by center fielder Dominic Fletcher. First baseman Jared Gates drove Kjerstad in with a sacrifice fly to cut Florida's lead to 5-4. But Byrne retired designated hitter Evan Lee on a flyball to right field, and Koch grounded out to end the game.
"Bottom line, we were right there to win the game and we didn't do it," Van Horn said.
Byrne (1-0) had his scoreless streak snapped at 26⅓ innings, allowing 1 run in 3⅔ innings to earn the win. Junior left-handed starter Kacey Murphy (3-1) took the loss for Arkansas.
Coming off a 17-2 loss to Florida on Saturday, the most lopsided SEC defeat for Arkansas in 16 seasons under Van Horn, the Razorbacks stayed closer Sunday thanks to a strong effort from Murphy. After Arkansas used four pitchers Saturday, Murphy took the Razorbacks deep into the game, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) over 6⅓ innings with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts.
"I knew I had to do a job, go deep into the game, because we had a shortage of arms a little bit," Murphy said. "It's my job to throw strikes and that's what I did."
Florida (21-5, 4-2 SEC) went up 1-0 in the second inning when third baseman Jonathan India tripled off the right-field wall and came home to score on Blake Reese's sacrifice fly.
But the Razorbacks touched Florida sophomore starter Tyler Dyson for back-to-back home runs in the top of the fourth. Gates tied the score with his third home run of the season, an opposite-field shot. Then Lee put Arkansas up 2-1 with a towering home run that carried over the wall in left-center field.
The Gators went back up 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth when catcher JJ Schwarz deposited a 3-2 pitch from Murphy into the bleachers in left field for a two-run home run.
"I tried to get it down," Murphy said. "I didn't get it down enough, down and out. I just tried to make it a competitive 3-2 pitch without putting him on. He got a good swing on it."
Arkansas tied the score in top of the fifth when right fielder Eric Cole led off with a single, moved to third on Kjerstad's double and scored on Fletcher's sacrifice fly. But Kjerstad was left at third with one out when Florida left-handed reliever Jordan Butler struck out Gates and Lee.
In the sixth inning, Arkansas loaded the bases with one out before the Gators turned to Byrne out of the bullpen. He worked out of the jam by getting Cole to pop out to second base and Kjerstad to ground out to second.
For Arkansas, it was an afternoon of missed opportunities. The Razorbacks left 12 runners on base, including six in scoring position.
"We just couldn't get the big hit," Van Horn said. "Give them credit. They pitched out of it. We didn't do a good job hitting with runners in scoring position."
Sports on 03/26/2018