Arkansas shuts out Florida to sweep series

Following a historic win on Saturday, the No. 6 Arkansas Razorbacks pledged to keep their foot on the gas in hopes of sweeping the No. 9 Florida Gators on Sunday. In what turned out to be a defensive-heavy day, one swing of the bat and a dominant effort in the circle made the difference.

A home run by Danielle Gibson in the 2nd inning, a costly error in the 6th inning, and an eight strikeout day by Chenise Delce were enough to power Arkansas to a 2-0 win on Sunday, giving them the sweep of Florida.

After solidifying a series win over Florida (35-12, 11-10 SEC) for the first time in history on Saturday, Arkansas (35-8, 14-4 SEC) looked to keep the momentum going on Sunday. The Razorbacks’ sticks had a challenging day with the Gators defense, grabbing just four hits on the day, but a swing of the bat and an error late in the game would be the deciding factor.

After going down in order in the 1st inning, clean-up hitter Danielle Gibson would lead off the 2nd inning with a home run that would just clear the right field wall to put the Razorbacks up 1-0.

The bats would stay relatively quiet until the 6th inning. KB Sides led off the inning with a hard grounder through the left side. Two more baserunners would reach after being hit by a pitch, setting up an opportunity for Linnie Malkin to extend the lead.

Malkin would make contact, and Arkansas would gain a run on a throwing error by Gator shortstop Sarah Longley, extending the lead to 2-0.

While the Arkansas offense did enough to put runs on the board, the win would not be possible without the effort of Chenise Delce.

Delce got the nod for game three and, just like she has all season, limited her opponents production at the plate. In a full-game’s work, Delce struck out eight batters while allowing just two hits without issuing a walk.

In three appearances in the series with Florida, Delce struck out 19 batters, allowed one earned run and seven hits while walking two batters in 15.0 innings of work.

Arkansas has now won all six SEC series this season, and take full control of the Southeastern Conference lead after Texas A&M took two of three from Alabama over the weekend. Next up for Arkansas is a midweek game with Central Arkansas on Tuesday, before hosting South Carolina for a three-game SEC slate beginning Friday night at Bogle Park.

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