ARLINGTON, Texas - Auburn lost a closely-contested season opener against Oklahoma, 3-0, Friday afternoon in game one of the State Farm College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field.
The game was tied 0-0 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning before Oklahoma shortstop Peyton Graham hit a two-run home run that proved to be the difference in the contest.
"It was one of those the whole time where you knew it was going to come down to one pitch," head coach Butch Thompson said of the game.
Auburn's pitching duo of Tommy Sheehan and Jordan Armstrong battled with Oklahoma starter Jake Bennett and reliever Colton Sundloff to keep the game knotted at zero until Graham's aforementioned home run.
The Tigers managed three hits in the contest with a pair of doubles from Sonny DiChiara and a ninth-inning single from Blake Rambusch.
"It was a little back-and-forth," Thompson added. "Really, all of our preparation told us, I was so excited about our lineup. We just didn't have great approaches today."
Auburn (0-1) was faced with pressure right out of the gate as the Sooners (1-0) had two runners in scoring position in both the first and fourth innings, but the Tigers escaped both unscathed thanks to a solid effort on the mound.
Making his Auburn debut, Armstrong entered in the bottom of the second and ultimately tossed four scoreless innings while allowing only one hit with two walks and five strikeouts to give Auburn a chance to take the lead.
Kason Howell led off the top of the fourth with a walk. Then, with one out, DiChiara drove a ball to deep center that hung up just long enough for Oklahoma centerfielder Tanner Treadway to secure the catch. A baserunning error resulted in an inning-ending double play.
The Tigers had another chance to crack the scoreboard in the top of the seventh. DiChiara ripped his second double of the day to left-center, and Brody Moore drew a walk to put runners at first and second with one out. However, Sundloff forced a double play to get the Sooners out of the jam.
After Oklahoma took the lead in the home half of the frame, the Sooners added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth after a walk and single put runners on the corner with nobody out. John Armstrong entered in relief of Hayden Mullins and induced a double play, but the Sooners plated a run on the play to increase the lead to 3-0.
"I thought the two Armstrongs – Jordan and John – two new pitchers in our program, they're going to be able to do something for us," Thompson said.
Rambusch lined a single to right field to start the ninth, but Oklahoma reliever Jaret Godman ended the game with a pair of strikeouts and deep flyout to left-center off the bat of DiChiara.
The Tigers take on No. 12 Texas Tech at Globe Life Field Saturday at 3 p.m. CT on Flo Baseball.
Auburn falls to Oklahoma in season-opening pitching duel
