Arkansas-Florida Preview: Both need wins, but for completely different reasons

(Arkansas Athletics photo)

By Jake Mastroianni

You might not normally get a lot of hype for teams who are at opposite ends of the conference standings like Arkansas (36-7, 13-5) and Florida (28-15, 6-12) are, but this could be a do-or-die weekend for the Gators. 

With just four weeks left in the regular season, Florida has to find a way to get at least six more wins in order to find their way into the NCAA Tournament. To do that, they’ll need to avoid getting swept by a couple of top five teams in Arkansas, this weekend, and Texas, in a few weeks. 

Speaking of Texas, that is who the Razorbacks (and everyone else) are currently looking up at in the SEC standings. If Arkansas wants any chance of catching them and winning the regular season title, they can’t have any slip-ups against a struggling Florida team – especially not after dropping back-to-back series. 

At the Plate

Since SEC play began, Arkansas has been head-and-shoulders above every other offense in the conference, leading the way with a .330 average and 180 runs scored in SEC games. 

Florida is sixth in SEC play in average at .274, but has scored just 100 runs, 11th most. That’s partly because they’re just 9th in home runs during SEC play, and the long ball was supposed to be a huge strength of this lineup. 

They did get the bats going against Mississippi State last weekend, scoring 13, 11, and 8 runs in a series win.

Hitters to Watch

Florida

• Colby Shelton: .376, 19 2B, 7 HR, 35 RBI, 5 SB

• Brody Donay: .341, 12 HR, 7 SB

• Brendan Lawson: .331, 8 HR, 46 RBI, 5 SB

• Bobby Boser: .323, 14 HR, 45 RBI, 12 SB

Arkansas

• Wehiwa Aloy: .379, 15 2B, 16 HR, 48 RBI, 6 SB

• Kuhio Aloy: .378, 12 2B, 11 HR, 57 RBI

• Charles Davalan: .378, 12 HR, 44 RBI, 5 SB

• Cam Kozeal: .366, 13 2B, 8 HR, 44 RBI

On the Mound

The Gators have had to deal with several injuries to the pitching staff this year that have set them back, but the return of Liam Peterson has helped stabilize things. 

Still, the Gators are ranked 15th in ERA during SEC play at 8.25. A big reason for that is the 93 walks they’ve issued – 3rd most. If they’re going to make any kind of run to the tournament, head coach Kevin O’Sullivan has to find the pieces of the pitching staff quickly. 

During the preseason, the Arkansas pitching staff was hyped up as the best in the country. And while they’ve been good, they’ve taken some lumps as well. But overall, they rank fifth in SEC play with an ERA of 4.64 to go along with 193 strikeouts in 155.2 innings. 

Only the LSU and Ole Miss pitching staffs have more strikeouts. 

Pitchers to Watch

Florida

• Liam Peterson: 3.74 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 45.2 IP, 67 Ks

• Aidan King: 3.63 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 44.2 IP, 50 Ks

• Jake Clemente: 4.76 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 34 IP, 50 Ks

• Luke McNeillie: 5.65 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 36.2 IP, 53 Ks

Arkansas

• Zach Root: 4.19 ERA, 53.2 IP, 73 Ks

• Landon Beidelschies: 4.06 ERA, 44.1 IP, 46 Ks

• Gabe Gaeckle: 6.00 ERA, 42 IP, 50 Ks

• Dylan Carter: 1.85 ERA, 24.1 IP, 29 Ks

Weekend schedule

Fri., April 25 at 5:30 pm CT (SEC Network+)

Sat., April 26 at 2 pm CT (SEC Network)

Sun., April 27 at 12 pm CT (SEC Network+)

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