March 21, 2009
AUBURN, Ala. - No. 15 Arkansas scored all 10 of their runs after two outs were made in the inning and scored five unanswered runs after being down 6-5 after the seventh en route to a 10-6 series-clinching win over Auburn on Saturday afternoon at Plainsman Park. Both of Arkansas' runs in the sixth were unearned after a fielding error on Joseph Sanders to start the inning while two ninth-inning walks were the catalyst to Arkansas' three runs in that inning.
Auburn fell to 15-7, 2-3 SEC while Arkansas is now 15-4, 5-0 SEC.
"Arkansas scored all of their runs with two outs. They stepped up and had several two-out base hits and that was the difference," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. "You look at what we did pitching-wise and we gave up 11 free bases (nine walks, two hit batters). When you give out that many free bases against a team like Arkansas it's going to be tough and we just couldn't overcome that today."
Austin Hubbard (2-1) was charged with the loss after allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits and four walk in two innings, entering in the eighth after Sanders' error and allowing his inherited runner from Bradley Hendrix and the first hitter he faced in the inning to score.
Arkansas reliever Stephen Richards (4-0) picked up the win a day after earning the save in Friday's 3-2 game. The left-handed reliever had entered in the seventh with the bases loaded and one out after three straight walks and Arkansas ahead, 5-4. He allowed a two-run single to Sanders that put Auburn up 6-4 but struck out the next two hitters he faced in before the Arkansas offense picked him up with the two eighth-inning runs.
With Auburn up 6-5, Ryan Cisterna hit a pop-up to Sanders but the Auburn third baseman was unable to make a play on the ball, knocking Hendrix out of the game after two innings. Hubbard then walked nine-hole hitter Collin Kuhn before getting Chase Leavitt to line out and struck out Scott Lyons. A walk to Ben Tschepikow loaded the bases for cleanup hitter Jacob House, who singled to left-center, scoring two before Hubbard fanned Andy Wilkins to head to the eighth down a run, 7-6.
Auburn threatened to tie it or even take a lead in the eighth as Brian Fletcher walked to lead off the inning and Casey McElroy singled to short to put two runners on with none out. A Tony Caldwell sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position for Bradley Ray, who lined into an inning-ending double play with the runners in motion to thwart the Auburn scoring chance.
"The last two innings were not great innings for Auburn baseball. We gave up five runs in the last two innings after scoring two in the bottom of the seventh and we had a miscue and a missed sign. That's the difference sometimes, the little things. We have to get better at it and we have to regroup tomorrow," Pawlowski said. "In order to get to the SEC Tournament you have to avoid being swept and tomorrow's a big game."
Auburn took a 1-0 lead in the first on a Hunter Morris RBI groundout to second, scoring Trent Mummey for the 38th time this season.
Arkansas answered with three runs in the top of the second off of Auburn starter Jon Luke Jacobs on a Chase Leavitt two-RBI double and a Lyons run-scoring single to left to go up 3-1.
Auburn tied it in the bottom of the second on Justin Hargett's second home run of the season, a two-run job to right with McElroy on first and two outs in the inning.
The two teams traded zeros from then until the sixth when Arkansas went up 5-3 on a Kuhn RBI single scored Andrew Darr, who was hit by a pitch, and a Leavitt RBI single scored Kuhn.
Auburn got it back to within a run at 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth on Morris' fifth home run of the season, a solo shot to right-center, upping the Auburn team total to 48 on the year, which is 16th all by itself in school history. It appeared the Morris' shot would have been the second in back-to-back home runs with Ben Jones but a leaping catch by Arkansas right fielder Leavitt at the wall brought a Jones home run back into the park for the first out of the inning.
Auburn will try to avoid the sweep on Sunday when it sends Sr. RHP Paul Burnside (0-1, 5.50) to the mound against Arkansas Fr. LHP Drew Smyly (1-0, 1.83). First pitch is set for 1pm CT.
Arkansas 10, Auburn 6 (Mar 21, 2009 at Auburn, Ala.)
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Arkansas............ 030 002 023 - 10 12 0 (15-4, 5-0 SEC)
Auburn.............. 120 001 200 - 6 7 1 (15-7, 2-3 SEC)
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Win-Stephen Richards(4-0) Loss-Austin Hubbard(2-1) T-3:03 A-2412
HR AU - Hunter Morris (5); Justin Hargett (2).
Weather: 67 degrees; Sunny
