HOOVER, Ala — The fourth-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks took advantage of the long ball again on Friday and used another strong start from right-handed pitcher Blaine Knight to defeat the top-seeded No. 1 Florida Gators, 8-2, in the third round of the 2018 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament.
The win places the Razorbacks (39-17) into the tournament semifinals for the second consecutive year and the fourth time in the last six years. They will play the winner of Friday’s late game between Florida (42-16) and LSU (35-24) for a spot in the championship game. The Gators opened the tournament with a 4-3 win over the Tigers on Wednesday.
The first semifinal today between Texas A&M (39-19) and the winner of Friday’s game between Ole Miss (43-15) and Auburn (39-20) is scheduled to begin at noon. Arkansas’ semifinal would follow about 30 minutes later. Both games are scheduled to be showed on the SEC Network (Resort Channel 79).
The Razorbacks led 4-2 in the ninth inning before they put an exclamation point on the victory. Redshirt junior infielder Hunter Wilson hit a grand slam off of Gator pitcher Andrew Baker for his first career home run and third grand slam by an Arkansas player this season. Junior right fielder Eric Cole and sophomore first baseman Jordan McFarland have also recorded grand slams this season.
“When I was on deck, Coach (Dave) Van Horn told me to be ready to slap something the other way because that’s usually what I do,” Wilson said. “I got a breaking ball down and got the bat head out and let the wind do the rest, I guess. It was fun. It was a good time. It was everything you dream about, that’s for sure.”
Knight (10-0) remained undefeated by allowing just one run, a home run, over six innings and allowing four hits coupled with four strikeouts on 99 pitches. He now has two wins this year over the top-ranked team in the nation and is the only pitcher in the country with a perfect 10-0 record. Knight is the first Arkansas pitcher with 10 or more wins in a season since Ryne Stanek won 10 in the 2013 season.
“Blaine is one of those guys, when he pitches, we usually play really well behind him,” Van Horn said. “It’s like our defense is on its toes. They compete for him, and he competes for us.
“I thought he did a good job. It was a hot day, humid. When out, as usual, he gives us a chance to win. I’m just proud of him and our team for getting up early and coming out here and getting after it..”
Knight saw his ERA drop to 2.78 with just the one run allowed. He Florida’s Brady Singer as the second pitcher in the SEC with 10 or more wins this season.
“I felt pretty good,” Knight said. “My breaking ball was a little shaky. I kept airing it, and it was up. I hit a guy with it. I was trying to keep it in the zone, but everything else was really good.
“Against Florida, I tried not to make mistakes over the plate. They are a team that if you make mistakes, they will punish you. They’re No. 1 for a reason. I was trying to make them hit my pitches and let my defense do the rest.”
“I thought Blaine threw a really good game,” said freshman third baseman Casey Martin. “He’s thrown well all year, but like coach said, it does seem like every time he pitches our defense really plays behind him. We have a lot of trust in him. I’m just glad we can go out and do what we do with him.”
Martin stayed hot with a two-run home run in the second inning. He now has three home runs in just two games in the tournament and has 13 for the year, tying the single season record for an Arkansas freshman set by Zack Cox in 2009.
Seven of Arkansas’ starters recorded at least one hit off the Florida pitching staff. Martin and junior shortstop Jax Biggers recorded two hits in the game to lead all players.
Martin now has four hits through two tournament games and extended his hitting streak to five games. Biggers made his first start since fracturing his left index finger on a bunt attempt against Texas A&M on May 11. He finished 2-for-3 at the plate with singles in the fifth and ninth innings.
Arkansas was able to add two more runs in the sixth inning, piecing together two RBI singles from sophomore center fielder Dominic Fletcher and senior first baseman Jared Gates. The Hogs saw their first three batters reach base in the inning before Fletcher’s RBI and then got Gates’ hit with two outs that eventually led to the exit of Florida starter Jackson Kowar (9-4).
Fletcher made yet another diving catch and throw to double off a runner. In the third inning, Florida had runners on first and second base with one out before Nelson Maldonado laced a low line drive into center field. Fletcher made the diving catch and was able to catch Jonah Girand trying to tag up and advance to third, ending the inning. The Gators only got two other runners to third base throughout the rest of Knight’s outing.
Wilson entered as a pinch runner for senior Luke Bonfield in the eighth inning and stayed in the game as the designated hitter. He got the chance to hit in the top of the ninth after Arkansas loaded the bases with two outs. Wilson took a 1-0 pitch over the right field wall, extending the Hog lead to 8-2.
The bullpen behind Knight did its job as junior Barrett Loseke and sophomore Matt Cronin locked up the final three innings, holding Florida to just one run on one hit with seven strikeouts combined. Loseke threw a perfect seventh inning and came back for the eighth, but ran into trouble when Florida put two runners on with no outs, leading Van Horn to bring in Cronin.
Cronin got out of the jam with just one sacrifice fly allowed and he struck out two in the process, including SEC Player of the Year Jonathan India, to lock up his 11th save of the year and his second in as many outings. Cronin is now just two saves away from tying the all-time Arkansas record for saves in a season set by Colby Suggs in 2013.
Arkansas was left to wait to see who its next opponent would be in the semifinals. The Gators and Tigers met Friday night after a slew of weather delays earlier in the day.