It took No. 2 Arkansas just a little more than 24 hours to wrap up a series win over the Florida Gators at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville over the weekend, and there’s one play from the action that fans are still talking about Monday morning — Peyton Holt’s deke in centerfield during Game 2.
After Arkansas squeaked out a 2-1 win over the Gators on Friday, the team’s had to play a Saturday doubleheader due to impending weather in Fayetteville on Sunday.
In Game 2, which was the first game of the doubleheader, Florida had bases loaded and just one out with the Razorbacks holding onto a 6-5 lead in the top of the eighth inning. Gators’ shortstop Colby Shelton hit a high fly ball to center that everyone watching just assumed would drive in a run as a sacrifice fly out. Not so fast, my friend.
Starting in centerfield for the fourth time this season, Greenwood native Peyton Holt deked out the runner at third (deke is short for decoy) by faking a catch, actually making the catch for the second out and then throwing a dart to Jared Sprague-Lott at third to allow Sprague-Lott to get the runner — Brody Donay — out at home in plenty of time.
“Right when the bases got loaded, an (at bat) before I was like, I could deke it if it’s a fly ball right to me,” Holt told Arkansas Athletics. “I felt like it was a good scenario to try it. Perfect ball. It was coming straight down, so just did exactly what we worked on. It worked out perfect.”
