No. 1 Arkansas saw its winning streak snapped on Saturday with an 8-6 loss to No. 23 Auburn.
Arkansas (19-3, 5-1) took the series winning both Thursday and Friday. For Auburn (15-8, 1-5) the win was its first in SEC play. Dave Van Horn missed Friday's game due to his daughter giving birth, but returned for Saturday's contest. A six-run sixth did his team in.
"Yeah, tough loss," Van Horn said. "We let a lead slip away. It’s hard to recover when you give up six in one inning. We had plenty of chances to score today. We left a lot of runners on. We are swinging the bats better in my opinion. We did swing at too many pitches out of the zone. We’ve got to clean that up a little bit before this week. Yeah, just too many little missed opportunities to get one here, maybe two there. Runners at first and second or second and third, one out, things like that. We just didn’t drive people in all the time."
The Razorbacks, as noted by Van Horn, had a big inning of their own putting four runs on the board in the fourth inning. Auburn got one of those back in the bottom of the fifth, but then the Hogs went on top 5-1 in the top of the sixth.
"Credit to Auburn," Van Horn said. "They fought back after we had them on the ropes. But it really probably boiled down to a couple of free passes here and there and pitch counts getting up and a big swing. You know the home run that went over the big left field wall. He hit it good but it was a fly ball, just barely cleared the wall as it was coming down. That’s the way it works when you’re playing with quirky parks and it got us today."
Auburn Coach Butch Thompson was relieved to see his team finally get a win in SEC action. They were swept at Vanderbilt last weekend had to rally to avoid the same fate at home against Arkansas.
“It was perfect,” Thompson said of the day’s weather and the win. “I think that was the largest crowd we have ever had here at Plainsman Park and I think that is unbelievable, especially considering the last two weeks.
“But I have to tell you, the emotions of our team and the effort, I could just see it all week and it’s been tough. We have been hurting, but they absolutely stayed in it, especially after not getting what they wanted in two one-run ball games."
The 5,087 fans in attendance were treated to a nice win and hopefully one that provides momentum in coming weeks. Van Horn was asked about what happened to the bullpen in the sixth inning?
"Just a couple of mistakes," Van Horn said. "Cooper Dossett comes in and man, he throws two really good pitches. The count’s 1-2 and then he threw it right down the middle and the guy hit it out of the park. Kind of shocks you a little bit. Then he might have given up another hit. I don’t know exactly what happened. He just didn’t locate the finish. I think (Gabe) Gaeckle, he just got behind in the count and walked a couple of people. He hadn’t been doing that. He only threw a few pitches the other day and he had a couple of days to rest. He was ready to go. It just didn’t happen for him today. I thought (Colin) Fisher came in, tough situation. He just gave up a fly ball that turned into a three-run homer. Kind of a tough-luck pitcher on that swing. But he gave us a chance to get back in it.
"We came back in the next inning and had, I don’t know, runners at first and second, one out? Maybe we already had one run in. And we didn’t score. That was a chance for us to really maybe gut punch them little bit after they score six and take the lead. At a minimum we should have tied it there and we didn’t. One big hit and we’re ahead. So, typical game 3. It got a little crazy."
The Hogs took a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth when Jared Sprague-Lott belted a three-run home run. Will Edmunson then reached on a single and scored on a double by Kendall Diggs.
Diggs plated Peyton Stovall in the top of the sixth for a seemingly comfortable 5-1 lead.
The big blast in the bottom of the sixth was a three-run shot over the fence by first baseman Cooper McMurray, who was having a rough series prior to Saturday's game.
"He did a really good job. He had to get his hits off left-handed pitching today for the most part and drove in four runs," Van Horn said. "The big swing was that three-run homer. It looked like we might get out of that inning with a one-run lead and then a fly ball blew out of the park and all of a sudden we’re down a couple. But he had a good day. He was the difference for them."
Thompson was pleased to see his clean-up hitter have a big day against the Hogs.
“McMurray really had a tough two days,” Thompson said. "He really carried us 10 days before that. To see him at the end of the series come and have a couple of at bats, a hit early and the backside (opposite field) homer just knocked the door down and kind of created the big sixth inning. That wa the huge in the outcome of today’s game.”
Arkansas cut the lead to one, 7-6, in the top of the seventh when Hudson White singled and scored on a double by Edmunson. Auburn managed to add an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a solo shot by Ike Irish.
Arkansas used five pitchers on the day. Mason Molina got the start and worked five innings. He allowed three hits and one run. Gaeckle (0-2) took the loss. Parker Carlson (2-0) picked up the win and Will Cannon earned his first save.
Arkansas 6, Auburn 5
Ryder Helfrick’s ninth-inning go-ahead home run in his first career SEC at-bat lifted No. 1 Arkansas (19-2, 5-0 SEC) to a thrilling 6-5 series-clinching win over No. 23 Auburn (14-8, 0-5 SEC) Friday night at Plainsman Park.
Playing without their head coach Dave Van Horn, who returned to Fayetteville earlier in the day for the birth of his triplet grandchildren, the Razorbacks rallied from deficits in the first, third and sixth innings and overcame a 30-minute, mid-game delay when home plate umpire Jeff Wright took a foul ball off his mask and had to depart the ballgame.
With the win, the Hogs have now started 5-0 in SEC play for the first time since 2009, and for only the second time in the Van Horn era. Arkansas also extended its season-long winning streak to 15 games with the win, matching its second-longest overall winning streak under Van Horn, as well as its longest in-season winning streak in the Head Hog’s tenure.
Razorback starting pitcher Brady Tygart labored through his 3.2 innings of work, striking out four while allowing three runs on three hits and a career-high five walks. After Auburn took an early one-run lead in the game’s first inning, Ben McLaughlin’s solo home run in the top of the second helped Arkansas answer back and knot the game at one apiece.
The Tigers scored twice in the bottom half of the third to open a two-run advantage, but the Hogs responded with three runs, including a pair on Will Edmunson’s two-RBI single to left, to take a 4-3 lead headed into the bottom of the fourth.
Auburn led, 5-4, through six innings of play, but Arkansas had a late rally in store. Peyton Stovall’s sacrifice fly to left in the top of the seventh tied the game at five before Helfrick came up clutch with his game-winning solo shot in the ninth.
Helfrick, who entered the game as a defensive replacement at catcher in the seventh inning, jumped all over the very first pitch he saw, hammering a fastball deep to left field and over the 37-foot green monster. The home run, Helfrick’s second of his collegiate career, registered an exit velocity of 109 mph and traveled 405 feet.
An inning earlier, Helfrick provided a key defensive play to help set the table for his game-winning home run. The true freshman threw out Cooper Weiss, Auburn’s leadoff hitter with an SEC-leading 19 stolen bases, at second to eliminate a run-scoring threat and give Arkansas the opportunity to take the lead in the ninth.
Arkansas 1, Auburn 0
No. 1 Arkansas got a first-inning home run from shortstop Wehiwa Aloy then made it hold up thanks to outstanding pitching by Hagen Smith, Will McEntire and Gabe Gaeckle for a 1-0 win.
In four SEC games, Arkansas (18-2, 4-0) has allowed one run. Dave Van Horn was obviously pleased with his staff that allowed just three hits in the game while striking out 17 and walking two.
"Well, I’m going to state the obvious, we pitched very well," Van Horn said. "Hagen got into a couple of jams. One of them was because we didn’t make a play in the outfield, and he got out of them. Amazing. Second and third, one out, two different times and he got out of both of them. Offensively, we got runners all over the bases and we just didn’t get the big hit. But you know, it was a really good win for our team. Finding a way to win when things really aren’t going our way. We did hit a couple of balls hard at them, but just missed putting that game away a couple of times. So, really just proud of the guys for hanging in there. All three of our pitchers did a tremendous job. The bullpen with McEntire and Gaeckle shut them down the last three innings and gave us a chance to win the ballgame."
In the bottom of the fourth, Auburn had runners on second and third with no outs. Smith struck out the next three hitters. Auburn had the bases loaded in the sixth with two outs, but once again a strikeout by Smith ended the threat.
"Some of it was experience," Van Horn said. "Really no panic, and really making some pitches. I mean, bottom line, making pitches with really good stuff."
The incredible stat is allowing one run in four games by the Arkansas staff.
"Yeah, it’s pretty amazing," Van Horn said. "My thoughts would be that we’ve pitched extremely well and we’ve made most of the plays we’ve had an opportunity to make. I think about the play that McLaughlin made with two outs when the guy slapped the ball down the first base line. Made a diving play and hit a moving target throwing off his back side, so that was pretty good. But yeah, tremendous job by our pitching staff."
Arkansas only had six hits itself. Aloy had the solo home run and catcher Hudson White had three hits in four at bats. Van Horn was asked about the bats in general?
"I don’t know if they were pressing," Van Horn said. "I think it was just a matter of the other team’s pitchers making some really good pitches in some tough situations. We swung through a couple of pitches. Just missed a couple of pitches. Hit fly balls. You could tell our hitters were frustrated. They felt like they were on a couple of pitches, but give Auburn’s pitching staff credit. They didn’t throw the ball in the middle of the plate much at all, and they got ahead in the count. They made us earn it. It was a tough win, but we’ll take it."
Van Horn also commented on Aloy's two-out solo shot in the top of the first over the fence in right field.
"He did a tremendous job with the fastball, let it get deep and just hammered it," Van Horn said. "We felt like it was out right when it left the bat, and he’s been swinging the bat extremely well in batting practice. He hit two or three home runs, two or three balls out of the park in batting practice to right center, and that ball was more dead right. He let it get really deep and then he lined out to center, he absolutely smoked that ball. If it had been left to right a little bit it would have went to the fence and we would have scored another run, but I see Wehiwa (Aloy) swinging the bat with a lot of confidence, taking pitches. It’s a good time for him to get on a roll, we just need to get some of the guys around him tTo help out."
Auburn (14-7, 0-4) starter Conner McBride (3-1) took the loss. Smith (4-0) got the win and Geackkle the save (5). McEntire worked two perfect innings to get ball from Smith to Gaeckle.
