Baxendale's complete game win upsets No. 4 Florida

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MICHAEL WOODS - 05/05/2011 - University of Arkansas pitcher DJ Baxendale reacts after the final out as the Razorbacks beat Florida 4-3 in Thursday night's game at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MICHAEL WOODS - 05/05/2011 - University of Arkansas pitcher DJ Baxendale reacts after the final out as the Razorbacks beat Florida 4-3 in Thursday night's game at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.

— Facing one of the league’s top hitting teams and opposed by one of the league’s top pitchers, DJ Baxendale knew he would need one of his best performances to date Thursday night.

The Arkansas right-hander did just that, delivering his first career complete game as the No. 18 Razorbacks beat No. 4 Florida 4-3 at Baum Stadium.

“He did a great job,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “He was at 92 pitches after seven innings and then he had a pretty good eighth. After we took the lead, we had to give him the ball and let him go back and finish it. He looked like a closer out there.

“We needed that - a complete game on Thursday night. It saved our bullpen a little bit against an outstanding team.”

Baxendale helped Arkansas bounce back from a disappointing loss to Southeast Missouri State the night before, improving his season record to 7-1 by throwing the Razorbacks’ first complete game of the year. The sophomore settled down after giving up a Florida run in the first inning to strike out seven batters.

Baxendale did his work on one of the biggest stages, out-dueling Florida right-hander Hudson Randall on national TV as part of ESPNU’s “Thursday Night SEC Game of the Week”. Randall entered the game with just one loss this season and an earned run average of 1.75.

Randall at one point retired 15 straight batters, but ultimately lost his second game of the season in a seven-inning outing.

“Hudson Randall is a great pitcher,” Baxendale said. “It helps you stay more focused because you know the guy going against you is going to be holding your offense to a low score.

“It was a huge game. The first game of every series is huge. We’re in the last half of the SEC and everything is getting tight, so it’s very important to come out and get that first win. The offense bounced back and the defense did a heck of a job.”

Collin Kuhn’s two-run home run tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning and Jarrod McKinney’s solo home run gave Arkansas (31-14, 11-11 SEC) the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth.

McKinney had made a diving grab in the outfield to end the top of the sixth inning with a pair of Florida base-runners in scoring position. Both likely would have scored, but the great defensive effort kept the Gators’ lead at 3-1.

“The momentum really shifted over to our corner after that,” McKinney said. “There weren’t many fans here tonight, but they were loud and they really had a presence out there with us.”

Bo Bigham’s two-out triple began Arkansas’ sixth inning rally before Kuhn followed with his fourth home run of the season and first since April 1. Kuhn, who finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored, also had a first inning triple.

“He had a good night for us,” Van Horn said. “You know, he scored the first run and drove in two more. That was big because we need Collin to get going and he did in a big way.”

Florida (35-11, 17-5) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Bryson Smith scored on a Preston Tucker single and a throwing error, but the Razorbacks tied the game in the bottom half of the inning when Kuhn scored from third on Dominic Ficociello’s RBI single.

The Gators regained the lead in the top of the fifth on Daniel Pigott’s RBI single to score Josh Adams. Florida extended the lead to 3-1 on Tucker’s solo home run to lead-off the top of the sixth inning.

“I thought if we got to four runs, definitely five, I would have felt a little bit better,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “But I knew they were going to make a run at some point. They’re well-coached and they’ve got some grit to them. I thought five would win it.

“Their rightfielder made a heck of a play, a diving catch on (Jeff) Moyer. That’s what teams do when they win games like this. You’ve got to make plays and that was a heck of a play by McKinney.”

The win was the Razorbacks’ 19th come-from-behind win this season. Arkansas improved to 12-6 in one-run games.

The two teams will meet again Friday for the second of the three-game series, with a first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Sophomore left-handers Randall Fant (Arkansas) and Brian Johnson (Florida) will get the starts on the mound.

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