Hogs Fall to No. 2 Florida 10-7 in Extra-Innings
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 12/13 Arkansas Razorbacks dropped a nine-inning heartbreaker by the score of 10-7 at No. 2 Florida as the Gators’ Korbe Otis hit a walk-off grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday evening at Pressly Stadium.
Florida jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning courtesy of a single from Otis and a two-run home run from Reagan Walsh. Arkansas then took a 4-3 lead in the top of the third inning courtesy of an RBI single from Bri Ellis and a three-run home run from Ella McDowell. Ellis and McDowell added insurance an inning later with an RBI single to left field and a bases-loaded walk, respectively. In the bottom of the fourth, Mia Williams tied the game at 6-6 courtesy of a three-run home run to left field. Both teams had chances to take the lead, but neither could break through over the next four innings. Arkansas left the bases loaded in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Bri Ellis gave the Hogs a 7-6 lead with a solo homer to right-center field in the top of the ninth. A hit-by-pitch, error, and a walk loaded the bases for Florida with two outs in the bottom of the ninth before Otis gave Florida the 10-7 win with a walk-off home run to right field.
McDowell continued her impressive display of hitting with a 4-5 night that included four RBI, three of which came on a third-inning three-run homer, a walk and a run scored. Ellis registered multiple hits, going 3-4 with a homer, three RBI and two walks. Atalyia Rijo (2-4, BB) and Reagan Johnson (2-4, 2 BB) also had multi-hit games. It marked the fifth straight game that Johnson had registered multiple hits.
Robyn Herron (11-4) took the loss for Arkansas after allowing just one earned run in 5.2 innings pitched with five strikeouts, two hits and two walks allowed.
Ava Brown (9-0) earned the win for Florida after striking out one and allowing three hits and four walks in 3.1 innings pitched.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Payton Burnham made her 10th start of the season for Arkansas, while Florida ace Keegan Rothrock got the ball for the Gators.
Reagan Johnson led off the ballgame with a walk. Bri Ellis and Kailey Wyckoff both barreled balls in the inning but had nothing to show for it after lining out to center field and left field, respectively.
Kendra Falby led off the bottom of the first inning with a high-chopping single up the middle. Taylor Shumaker then walked to put two on with no outs. Arkansas would turn a big 6-4-3 double play for the first two outs of the inning. Florida took a 1-0 lead on a Korbe Otis single up the middle before Reagan Walsh extended the Gators lead to 3-0 with a two-run home run just over the wall in left field.
In the top of the second inning, Karlie Davison and Carlee Ratcliff reached after being hit by a pitch with two outs in the frame, but both would be stranded as Rothrock issued an inning-ending popout to second base.
Burnham retired Florida in order in the home half courtesy of consecutive popouts to Ella McDowell and her first strikeout of the day.
Johnson singled to lead off the top of the third, followed by a double from Raigan Kramer to put runners in scoring position with no outs. Ellis then singled to center field to drive home Johnson before Ella McDowell hit a three-run home run to left field, making it 4-3 in favor of the Hogs.
Burnham kept the Gators off the scoreboard in the home half, only yielding a walk.
Arkansas increased its lead to 6-3 in the top of the fourth inning courtesy of a Bri Ellis RBI single off the wall in left field and a bases-loaded walk from Ella McDowell.
Following back-to-back walks in the bottom of the fourth inning, Arkansas called in Robyn Herron from the bullpen to face Florida second baseman Mia Williams, who would tie the game at 6-6 with a three-run home run to left field. Herron would buckle down and get out of the inning without further damage.
Florida made a pitching change and brought in left-hander Olivia Miller in the fifth inning. Miller would register a 1-2-3 top half. Herron spun a scoreless bottom of the sixth inning, highlighted by some nice defensive plays from Davison and Ellis on the right side of the Hogs’ infield.
In the sixth inning, Ellis walked with one out in the frame before McDowell and Rijo followed with two-out singles to load the bases. Florida would then bring in Ava Brown, who escaped the bases-loaded jam by issuing a shallow flyout to right field.
Herron retired the Gators in order with a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth inning by way of a strikeout and consecutive groundouts to Ella McDowell.
Arkansas again left the bases loaded in the seventh. Ratcliff, Johnson, and Ellis all walked in the frame, but Brown escaped unscathed with an inning-ending groundout to first base. Herron made it seven straight retired with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh.
In the eighth inning, McDowell led off with a line drive single off of Brown. Atalyia Rijo then laid down a bunt that McDowell reached safely at second, setting the stage for a strange sequence of events. Davison laid down a bunt and was called out for touching the ball in fair play. After a successful Arkansas challenge, it was ruled that Davison did not touch the ball, which caused a 35+ minute review for the umpires to call the NCAA office to verify the ruling, which states that a reversed dead ball ruling on the play allowed the runner to be placed on first base which loaded the bases. Florida head coach Tim Walton was ejected arguing the outcome of the ruling. Following the lengthy review and Walton’s ejection, Brown and Florida escaped the jam by way of a flyout, strikeout and lineout, as the Razorbacks left the bases-loaded for the third straight inning.
Herron pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth, highlighted by strong defense from Kennedy Miller, Davison and McDowell.
In the ninth inning, Ellis gave Arkansas a 7-6 lead by smashing her 20th home run of the season, a solo shot to right-center field.
Herron struck out the Gators’ Ava Brown to open the bottom of the ninth. Rylee Holtorf was then hit by a pitch to put the tying run on first base a batter later. Taylor Shumaker then grounded out to Bri Ellis at first base for the second out of the frame, allowing both runners to advance to second and third. Arkansas then pitched around catcher Jocelyn Erickson to load the bases for Otis, who would give Florida a 10-7 walk-off win by hitting a grand slam to right field.
NOTABLES
- Reagan Johnson recorded her 60th career multi-hit game. She has now registered multiple hits in five consecutive games.
- Ella McDowell registered the 29th 4+ hit game in program history with a career-high four hits in the loss. She also tied a career high with four RBI.
- Bri Ellis smashed her 20th home run of the season, the 68th of her career. Both marks lead all active NCAA D1 players. Ellis also became just the second player in program history to surpass the 200 RBI mark when accounting for stats from previous institutions, joining Danielle Gibson (220). Ellis now has 201 career RBI.
UP NEXT
The Razorbacks will look to take the series against the Gators in the series finale tomorrow at 1 p.m. The game will be televised on SEC Network+.
For schedule updates and other news, go to ArkansasRazorbacks.com, or follow @RazorbackSB on X, Instagram and Facebook.
