HOOVER, Ala. — Arkansas closer Brady Tygart was pulled after a short stint Friday after becoming nauseated on the mound.
Tygart, who entered in the sixth inning with Arkansas trailing 5-2, gave up a solo home run to Jud Fabian and hit both Jac Caglianone and Kendrick Calilao with pitches before pitching coach Matt Hobbs visited the mound.
Hobbs clearly asked Tygart if he felt well enough to continue pitching and Tygart told him he could. Hobbs started to head back to the dugout, but reversed course and the decision was made to lift him.
“He’s feeling better,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “Obviously in the middle of the diamond right there, he had a little rubbery legs, so we got him out. Coach [Hobbs] just went out to the mound He should have just told him, ‘I don’t feel good,’ and then there wouldn’t have been that much drama.
“But guys want to try to stay in, tough it out, but sometimes that’s not the right thing to do. He’ll be fine.”
Pogue’s plan
Florida Coach Kevin O’Sullivan said Friday’s starter Nick Pogue, who is 15-plus months out from Tommy John surgery, threw really well against the Hogs while improving to 4-3.
“Obviously they ran his pitch count up a little bit,” O’Sullivan said. “I think he got to about 80 pitches through five. But he really pitched to both sides of the plate with his fastball today.
“I thought his change-up was outstanding to both left-handers and right-handers, and that’s kind of the equalizer for him against right-handers. You don’t see many right-handed pitchers that have the ability to throw right-on-right changeups.
“Slider was good enough, just to throw it just enough to keep them off-balance. But he battled and you’ve got to remember, he’s somebody coming off Tommy John. … He’s not at full strength yet.”
Arkansas catcher Michael Turner said Pogue benefited from working ahead in counts.
“He threw a lot of strikes,” Turner said. “It’s hard to hit when you’re behind in the count. I’m sure they feel the same way.
“If you get ahead, like I was ahead 2-0, and that’s when he made the mistake. When you get behind in the count, it’s hard to hit.”
Turner followed Cayden Wallace’s solo home run with one of his own against Pogue in the Arkansas sixth.
Get out
The team that has scored first has won nine of the first 10 games at the SEC Tournament, including the first two games Friday as Florida got out 5-0 on Arkansas in a 7-5 win and Kentucky went up 1-0 in a 10-2 win.
The lone exception came in LSU’s 11-6 win over Kentucky in Thursday’s nightcap.
The Wildcats held a 2-0 lead into the third inning before the Tigers scored nine straight with three spots in the third, fourth and sixth innings.
No freak out
Florida had scored two runs in its first two games at the SEC Tournament in a 2-1 win in 10 innings over South Carolina and a 10-0 run-rule loss to Texas A&M.
The Gators didn’t let those hitting woes bother them Friday as they banged out 10 hits, including two doubles and three home runs, in their 7-5 win over Arkansas.
“We know offense, we know what we can do at the plate,” third baseman Colby Halter said. “We’ve got a bunch of really good bats in the lineup, and baseball is a game you can’t overcook it.
“We’ve been pretty consistent all year at the plate, and we obviously had two games we didn’t score a ton of runs. But we didn’t freak out or anything, and kind of just got back to ourselves today.”
Doubling up
The Razorbacks turned two double plays behind starter Connor Noland against the Gators.
Shortstop Jalen Battles and second baseman Robert Moore combined on a 6-4-3 double play on Kendrick Calilao to get out of the two-run second innings. Third baseman Cayden Wallace and Moore turned a twin killing with first baseman Peyton Stovall on Ty Evans in the fourth inning after BT Riopelle’s leadoff single.
Noland, the lone pitcher on the SEC All-Defensive team, made a strong play on Calilao’s swinging bunt in the fifth inning.
No time for you
Braydon Webb struck out as the first batter of the game while not standing in the batter’s box. Webb asked for time as Nick Pogue was just starting his wind-up on a 3-2 pitch, but his request was not granted by home plate umpire Scott Cline.
Pogue’s pitch was a strike and Webb made a brief protest about not being granted the timeout before retreating to the dugout.
Webb batted leadoff for the third time this season and went 1 for 4 with a two-run homer in the ninth and a walk. The Razorbacks are 7-7 with Webb in the leadoff spot, 1-2 this year and 6-5 last season.
Swipe city
Vanderbilt center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. improved to 43 for 43 in stolen bases this season with a swipe against Kentucky.
Bradfield walked to lead off the game against Kentucky pitcher Ryan Hagenow. His steal off Hagenow and catcher Devin Burkes was not even close at second base.
Defensive gems
The Razorbacks turned in two standout defensive plays in the third inning. First baseman Peyton Stovall ranged to his right, dove and snared a hot grounder from Colby Halter and tossed to pitcher Connor Noland covering first for the out. Two batters later, third baseman Cayden Wallace sprinted to the railing in foul territory and had just enough room to catch a pop-up from Sterlin Thompson.
Versus Florida
Florida improved to 35-36 in its all-time series with the Razorbacks, based on UA records since 1960, after going 3-1 against them this season
Arkansas still holds a 7-4 edge in neutral site games, including an 8-2 victory at the College World Series on June 22, 2018. The Gators snapped a three-game postseason skid against Arkansas after also falling 16-0 in the 2017 SEC Tournament and 8-2 in the 2018 SEC Tournament.