AUBURN, Ala. – No. 18 Auburn dropped the rubber game against No. 3 Arkansas, 7-4, Sunday afternoon at Plainsman Park.
Auburn (32-16, 13-11 SEC) tried to start a ninth-inning rally, cutting the deficit to three with two on and one out in the ninth, but a ground ball double play ended the game.
"We didn't swing it enough," head coach Butch Thompson said. "I thought the guys down the line did a good job to give us a chance in the ninth to try to create some type of comeback."
The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Arkansas (36-12, 16-8 SEC) answered by scoring five runs in its next two at-bats and never looked back.
"We'll keep focusing on our effort and process moving forward," Thompson added.
Kason Howell reached on an error before Bobby Peirce launched a two-run home run over the wall in right-center to give Auburn a 2-0 advantage in the opening frame. The home run was the redshirt junior's fifth of the year and left the bat at 106 miles per hour.
Arkansas answered right back in the second, scratching across two runs of their own to knot the game at two.
The Razorbacks seized a 5-2 lead in the top of the third inning off a three-run home run, which forced Auburn to turn to the bullpen. Carson Skipper entered to record the final out in the inning. The lefty ultimately worked 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, one walk and recording three strikeouts.
The Tigers fought right back in their next at-bat and cut Arkansas' lead to two on Sonny DiChiara's 15th home run of the season.
Arkansas added a run in the fifth and had the bases loaded with two outs, but Tommy Sheehan entered and worked out of the jam with a big strikeout to keep Auburn within striking distance.
When the Razorbacks had loaded the bases once again in the sixth, Auburn turned to freshman John Armstrong. Arkansas added an unearned run on a sacrifice fly, but Armstrong did a good job to minimize the damage.
In 2.2 innings of work, Armstrong faced the minimum and tallied four strikeouts to keep Arkansas' lead at 7-3.
Brooks Fuller worked a scoreless ninth inning to give the Tigers a chance for a ninth-inning comeback.
Brody Moore led off the inning with a double to left-center. Moore advanced to third on a pinch-hit single from Mason Land and later scored after Cole Foster reached on an error. The Tigers comeback effort fell short when Arkansas induced a game-ending double play to secure the win.
The Tigers had four hits, including a pair of homers, in the first three innings but mustered only three more in the final six frames. The home runs from DiChiara and Peirce powered the offensive with the blasts accounting for three of the four Tiger runs in the contest.
Auburn travels to Troy (29-17) for a midweek matchup Tuesday before hosting Alabama (26-22, 10-14 SEC) in its final home SEC series of the season.
Comeback bid falls short in series finale
