AUBURN, Ala. – Combining for six home runs through the first three innings, No. 17 Auburn softball (29-7, 7-6 SEC) came up on the short end of the slugfest as No. 10 Arkansas (27-7, 8-3 SEC) held on for a 7-4 win to open the series Friday at Bogle Park.
"We have to battle an entire seven innings," said head coach Mickey Dean. "We had one hit after the third. You win ball games like this in the fifth, sixth and seventh. I thought we did a great job early in the game against a great pitcher, and we stepped up immediately when they brought in a reliever. We got two on base, but then all the sudden – we had nothing after that. We left too many pitches over the middle of the plate, and Arkansas made us pay for it."
Bogle Park was a launching pad through the first three innings as all eleven runs scored Friday evening came off homers.
Arkansas struck first with back-to-back home runs in the first to take a 4-0 lead. Junior Lindsey Garcia answered in the top of the second with a two-run blast to left center, however Arkansas appealed, and the officiating crew confirmed that the lead base runner missed home plate and erased a run.
Leading off the top of the third, Sydney Cox drove a double up the middle. Freshman Nelia Peralta put runners on the corners for the Tigers with a two-out walk. Freshman Jessie Blaine then tied the game on one swing with a three-run blast to left center.
Arkansas answered in the home half, plating three runs off a pair of homers.
Starting pitchers Shelby Lowe and Mary Haff both exited the game early. Both relief pitchers would go on to turn in scoreless innings to close the game. Junior KK Dismukes allowed just two hits and a walk in her two innings of relief while striking out one. Lowe (8-3) closed the game with five strikeouts.
UP NEXT
The Tigers look to even the series on Saturday. First pitch on the SEC Network is set for 1 p.m. CT.