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Florida Gators Season Ends After 5-2 Loss to SEC Rival Arkansas In Omaha

By  //  June 23, 2018

ABOVE VIDEO: Florida’s season ends with a school-record fourth consecutive trip to the CWS.

OMAHA, NEBRASKA (Florida Gators) – The defending national champion Gators ran out of magic in Omaha after winning two straight elimination games.

Arkansas starter Isaiah Campbell had a lot to do with it, tossing 4 2/3 perfect innings to open his outing on Friday night at TD Ameritrade Park. Campbell, who the Gators roughed up for six runs in one inning at McKethan Stadium in late March, looked nothing like the pitcher Florida faced three months ago. He limited the Gators to two hits and two runs over 5 2/3 innings, striking out eight of the 20 batters he faced. Florida did not get a runner on base until Austin Langworthy’s two-out single in the fifth.

By that time, the Razorbacks led 4-0 and were well on their way to their first CWS final since 1979. Campbell’s 4 2/3 perfect innings as a starter tied a TD Ameritrade Park record set by Arizona’s Konnor Wade against UCLA in 2012.

Singer gave up seven hits and four runs in five innings, walking one and striking out two. Singer suffered his third loss of the season, two coming to the Razorbacks. (Tim Casey/Florida Gators Image)

The only offense the Gators could muster was a pair of runs in the fifth when Brady Smith had an RBI single to score Langworthy and Blake Reese, who doubled, came around to score on a wild pitch.

PLAYER OF GAME: Campbell starred for Arkansas on the mound and third baseman Casey Martin, who went 4-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored. Martin leads the Razorbacks with 17 hits in the NCAA Tournament and reached on a single in the first, a single in the fifth and a double in the fifth. He scored each inning and drove in Arkansas’ final run in the sixth on an RBI infield single.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Florida starter Brady Singer, pitching on four days rest, was not as sharp as he was in Sunday’s loss against Texas Tech. Singer gave up seven hits and four runs in five innings, walking one and striking out two. Singer suffered his third loss of the season, two coming to the Razorbacks. Singer, drafted in the first round by the Kansas City Royals, finishes his UF career with a 23-10 career record, including a pair of CWS victories in 2017 to help the Gators win their first national title.

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KEY MOMENT: After Martin doubled and scored on an RBI grounder by Luke Bonfield to give the Razorbacks a 3-0 lead, Arkansas center fielder Dominic Fletcher hit a two-out solo home run off Singer to give you the sense that it might not be Florida’s night.

BY THE NUMBERS: 266 — Career games played by Florida senior JJ Schwarz, establishing a school record; 49 — Wins for the Gators this season; UF missed an opportunity to become the first team to win 50 or more games in four consecutive seasons since Texas from 2002-05; 28 — Career strikeouts for Singer in four CWS starts covering 25 1/3 innings.

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