No. 6 Arkansas Blanks No. 9 Florida for Series Sweep
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Junior RHP Chenise Delce twirled a two-hit shutout and senior Danielle Gibson homered to help No. 6 Arkansas to a 2-0 win and complete a road sweep over No. 9 Florida Sunday afternoon at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
“I’m super proud of how our team stepped up to the challenge this weekend and continued to take care of business each day,” said Delce. “This is a huge series win for us, and I’m super happy with how our offense and defense played each game. It takes a lot of pressure off me when I know I have a strong defense behind me that will make every play. I trust out offense will do its job and put up the runs we need to win.”
Arkansas moves its record to 35-8 and 14-4 in conference play. Sunday’s victory also marks the 12th win against a Top-25 opponent this season.
Delce went the distance for the Hogs, tossing her ninth complete game of the season and second against Florida. The Oklahoma City, Okla., product racked up eight strikeouts and limited the Gators to two hits. In dominating fashion, Delce held Florida to just one run in three appearances. Delce and the defense played flawlessly with zero errors and five 1-2-3 innings. Additionally, Delce retired the last 12 hitters she faced to secure the shutout.
Gibson led the offense with a home run in the second. KB Sides accounted for Arkansas’ other run after reaching on a leadoff single to left and then later scoring on an error. Hannah McEwen and Audrie LaValley accounted for Arkansas’ other base hits.
Arkansas broke the game open on Danielle Gibson’s solo home run in the second. The game remained scoreless until the Razorbacks added their second run in the sixth frame on Linnie Malkin’s grounder, which forced a Florida throwing error and plated a speedy Sides from third.
Hog Highlights
- Chenise Delce picked up her 13th win of the season and seventh in conference play
- Delce filed her ninth complete game and third shutout of the season
- Delce posted a 0.47 ERA in two complete games against Florida
- Danielle Gibson exploded her 15th home run of the season
- Four different Razorbacks recorded hits Sunday (Gibson, McEwen, LaValley and Sides)
- The Hogs secure their second series sweep of the season
- Arkansas becomes the first team to sweep Florida since Alabama did in 2019
- The Razorbacks remain the only SEC team to not drop a series this season
- The last time Arkansas swept a three-game road conference series was April 16-18, 2021, at No. 20 Georgia
- Arkansas outscored Florida at a 16-5 clip over the weekend
- The Razorbacks have now hit 82 home runs this season
- Arkansas’ pitching staff held Florida to a .189 batting average
Up Next
Arkansas hosts UCA for a midweek game at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Bogle Park. The game will be available on SEC Network+.