What you need to know as Hogs set to face Florida

OMAHA, Neb. — Arkansas needs to win just one more game to reach their second College World Series final in school history, but will have to beat defending national champion Florida to do it.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m. at TD Ameritrade Park and will be televised on ESPN.

With Arkansas (46-19) having defeated Texas and Texas Tech en route to the semifinals, it will only have to defeat Florida (49-20) once to reach the College World Series final.

Florida, having lost its first-round game to Texas Tech, will need to beat Arkansas twice in two days to reach the final.

Oregon State and Mississippi State will battle on the other side of the bracket.

Matchup: No. 5 Arkansas vs. No. 1 Florida
TV: ESPN • WatchESPNApp
Talent: Karl Ravech (PXP), Kyle Peterson (Analyst), Eduardo Perez (Analyst), Laura Rutledge (Reporter)
Radio: Razorback Sports Network from IMG
Probable Starters for Game Two: (ARK) RHP Isaiah Campbell (4-6) vs. (UF) RHP Brady Singer (12-2)

It’s been the offense that has carried the Razorbacks into their third College World Series semifinals appearance since 2009.

Against Texas and Texas Tech, the Razorbacks scored at least one run in the first inning and built up leads of 11-2 and 5-2 before the seventh inning, adding five more runs of insurance in the final third.

On Wednesday against the Red Raiders, Arkansas endured a three-and-a-half-hour rain delay before the game’s first pitch, but the bats didn’t show rust as Jared Gates and Dominic Fletcher both hit their sixth and ninth home runs of the year, respectively, as part of a seven-run outburst.

Fletcher ended up going 4-for-4 with four RBIs, becoming the first player to accomplish that feat in a CWS game at TD Ameritrade Park and the first Razorback to do it in a world series game since Jeff King in 1985.

The 46 wins for the year is the most by a Razorback team since 2012 and ties for the most wins in a season under Dave Van Horn.

Friday’s Probable Starter – RHP Isaiah Campbell

Redshirt sophomore Isaiah Campbell earns the start for Arkansas’ third game of the 2018 College World Series against the Gators, coming off a strong outing in the Super Regional clincher against South Carolina.

Against the Gamecocks, Campbell gave up two runs over four innings and struck out five. However, he only gave up one hit through the first three innings and had allowed only two base runners.

Since March 17, Campbell has worked longer than five innings once but has tallied five or more strikeouts in four of 11 outings.

Hot At The Right Time

In just the NCAA Tournament alone, Arkansas has outscored teams 70-31 and are hitting .331 as a team in eight tournament games.

Even in its lone loss to South Carolina in the Super Regional, the Razorbacks scored five runs and totaled 10 hits.

Arkansas has notched 10 or more hits in five-straight games dating back to the start of the Super Regional and is hitting .360 as a team in the CWS, a higher average than any other team in the field.

Mr. June Continues Postseason Heroics

Senior first baseman Jared Gates is starting to make his great postseason play a normal occurrence after he hit his sixth home run of the year on Wednesday against Texas Tech.

It was Gates’ only hit of the game, but fourth of the College World Series. In his 11 career NCAA Tournament games, Gates has hit four home runs, while hitting just eight home runs in his 68 other career games.

This postseason, Gates is hitting .345, the fifth-highest average on the team.

Beat The Best To Be The Best

Arkansas’  matchup with top-seeded Florida on Friday will be the program’s first against the top-seed in the College World Series since facing Texas in the opening round of the 2004 College World Series.

The Razorbacks and Gators have faced off four times this year, including a three-game series in Gainesville and one game in the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama.

Florida won the regular-season series by taking the final two games, 17-2 and 5-4.

However, in Hoover, Arkansas won a trip to the conference semifinals, defeating pitcher Jackson Kowar after scoring four runs over the first six innings and then capping it with a grand slam in the ninth inning from Hunter Wilson, his first home run as a Razorback.