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Florida Baseball: Gator-Razorback Weekend Preview

By Tucker Welch

Florida base runner Jud Fabian (4) looks up to the umpire after being called safe on a pick off attempt while playing against Mississippi State during the SEC Tournament Tuesday, May 26, 2021, in the Hoover Met in Hoover, Alabama. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]Sec Tournament Florida Vs Mississippi State
Florida base runner Jud Fabian (4) looks up to the umpire after being called safe on a pick off attempt while playing against Mississippi State during the SEC Tournament Tuesday, May 26, 2021, in the Hoover Met in Hoover, Alabama. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]Sec Tournament Florida Vs Mississippi State /
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Florida Baseball Weekend Preview Against #2 Arkansas

Florida baseball weekend preview
Florida utility Wyatt Langford #36 reacts to scoring as teammates congratulate him in the dugout during the fifth inning Tuesday, March 29, 2022 at 121 Financial Ballpark in Jacksonville. The annual game, Fresh From Florida Sunshine Showdown, between the Florida State Seminoles and the University of Florida Gators, resumed after two year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Florida downed Florida St. 6-3. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]Jki 033122 Uffsubaseball 23 /

The

Florida Gators

will face off this weekend against #2 Arkansas Razorbacks. While the Gators will enter the matchup in a bit of a slump, they are coming off a 13-3 win over Florida A&M. Florida will enter the game against Arkansas with a record of 19-10 and 3-6 in the conference after they were swept by Georgia last weekend.

Game one of the series is Thursday at 6:00 P.M, with games two and three being Friday and Saturday. While the Gators haven’t announced the rotation for the weekend, you can assume sophomore Hunter Barco will be out there at some point. Barco has been masterful this season outside of his last start against Georgia, in which he went 5.0 innings and gave up seven hits, two walks, and three earned runs. USA Baseball announced on Tuesday their Golden Spikes Award Midseason List, a list that included Barco.

The Arkansas Razorbacks will bring their 22-5 record into Gainesville and a record of 7-2 in conference play. The Razorbacks are the #2 team in the country, according to D1Baseball.com. Arkansas enters the game with a high-powered offense that put up plenty of runs on the board. Chris Lanzilli leads the Razorbacks in batting average, coming into the series hitting .344. Not far behind him, Arkansas has Michael Turner, who is hitting .337.

Florida will enter the series, continuing to hit the ball, with Jud Fabian leading the brigade. Fabian was on a tear in March, and he will look to carry that into April. He enters, hitting .283 on the season with 13 home runs and 31 RBIs. Wyatt Langford and Sterlin Thompson are neck and neck in the team batting average race, with Langford holding the edge with a .349 batting average. Thompson is right there behind him, however, with a .348 batting average.

Florida will need to slow down Arkansas’s offense to win the series, and a weekend upset of #2 Arkansas could be what Florida needs to put them back on track. A series win would give Florida a huge confidence boost. If Florida is unable to slow Arkansas down offensively, they will need to be able to capitalize on scoring opportunities when they come and play clean, errorless baseball.

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