HOOVER, Ala. – Bub Terrell flashed with his bat and his glove, but No. 10 Arkansas defeated No. 6 Auburn 2-1 Saturday in the SEC Tournament semifinals in front of 14,919 at the Hoover Met, the fourth largest crowd in tournament history.
“Congratulations to Arkansas. We had every desire and intention to try to be playing tomorrow,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “This week, we were shooting for a championship, we fell short. We get to try to play for another championship next week. Disappointed with the outcome, but I thought this was great training.”
Terrell gave Auburn a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second with a home run that sailed over the wall in right center and bounced off the scoreboard, his team-best 16th homer of the season.
In the top of the third, Auburn starter Alex Petrovic worked around two walks by striking out the side.
The Razorbacks threatened to take the lead in the top of fourth after a bunt single put a runner on for left-handed hitter Nolan Souza, who sent a high fly to deep left.
Sprinting to his right, Terrell raced to the wall, timed his leap perfectly and deprived Souza of a go-ahead two-run homer, a catch Auburn baseball fans will long remember.
“The wind was blowing a lot. Before the game, I tracked my steps to see how many steps it takes to get to the wall. That’s a routine,” Terrell said. “I went up to the wall and I caught it, thank God, because it was definitely going over. It felt amazing, With the pitching staff we have, if we save any runs I feel like they can go the distance.”
Petrovic ended the inning by fanning the next batter, his seventh strikeout in 4.0 scoreless innings.
Rain and lightning arrived before Auburn could bat in the bottom of the fourth, delaying the game for two hours and 15 minutes.
Following the lengthy delay that ended Petrovic’s outing, Arkansas tied the score at 1-1 in the fifth inning on Camden Kozeal’s RBI single off Ryan Hetzler.
Bristol Carter and Chris Rembert hit back-to-back singles in the bottom of the fifth. Carter swiped third base to become the fourth player in program history to steal 30 bases in a season, but a pair of strikeouts ended the threat.
Hetzler retired nine straight Razorbacks before Ryder Helfrick gave Arkansas a 2-1 lead with a solo home run with two outs in the top of the eighth.
Ethin Bingaman singled with two outs in the bottom of the eighth before Eric Guevara made the final out of the inning, flying to the warning track in center field.
Arkansas reliever Ethan McElvain earned the win, shutting out the Tigers over the final 4.1 innings while striking out six.
Hetzler (4-2) took the loss, despite striking out a career-high eight and equaling his career-long outing by pitching 5.0 innings.
Petrovic and Hetzler continued Auburn’s outstanding pitching during the tournament, combining for 15 strikeouts while allowing only five hits and two earned runs. In three tournament games, Auburn allowed only three runs in 27 innings while striking out 34.
After advancing to the SEC Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2003, Auburn (38-19) returns to the Plains in anticipation of hosting an NCAA regional next week. Regional host sites will be announced Sunday evening, and national seeds and regional pairings will be released Monday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2.
“That’s one more last little step for us to prepare well and find one more little nugget to break through, and I think we will,” Thompson said. “I’m looking forward to getting back home and the preparation for next weekend.
“We all know we have the desire and it’s possible for us to make it to Omaha and make a push. I believe that because I believe with our pitching staff every day we roll out on the field we have a chance to win. That’s a good feeling as a coach.”
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer