After winning game one against No. 11 Arkansas on Thursday, Auburn fell to the Razorbacks 1-0, tying the series at one game each.
"Going into the game when you face guys that have their talent, you know that you're going to have to match them pitch by pitch," head coach John Pawlowski said. "Tonight we had a few opportunities to score, but they made some big pitches in some big situations."
Arkansas' starting pitcher, Ryne Stanek, made it tough for the Tigers to score. Stanek finished the night giving up six hits, with four strikeouts and no runs in a little more than seven innings pitched
"I thought he was outstanding," Pawlowski said. "He made big pitches and that's the sign of a good pitcher. When you get guys in trouble and in scoring position he executed pitches in big situations."
While Stanek had a good night, Auburn's Michael O'Neal only gave up four hits, with three strikeouts and one run scored.
In the third inning, Arkansas' Dominic Ficociello hit a single up the middle to send in the runner from third and give the Razorbacks a 1-0 lead, which they held onto for the rest of the game.
"Coming in you're facing one of the best pitching staffs in the nation," O'Neal said. "It feels like you can't give up a run."
After Arkansas scored, O'Neil retired the next 14 batters to finish the night strong and keep Auburn in the game.
"I just started throwing strikes; I felt like I was being too careful before that," O'Neal said. "You have that thinking that you can't give up a run. Once you've given it up you just have to pound it."
Auburn frequently put runners in scoring position, but had two outs working against them.
In the eighth inning, Auburn couldn't bring their runners home, leaving two runners stranded on base.
"That's the tough thing: I was hoping we could get a guy in scoring position with something other than two outs, and we couldn't come up with that big key hit," Pawlowski said.
The loss puts Auburn in a must-win situation on Saturday if the Tigers have any hope of making the NCAA tournament.
"I just told our team and they know exactly what we have to do," Pawlowski said. "We talked about the importance of every game and the attitude of every game is we've got to go out and play to win."
Auburn will most likely be the 10th seed in the SEC tournament next week and face either Alabama or Florida in the first game.
With the SEC tournament and one more game left in the Arkansas series, Pawlowski feels like there are still plenty of chances left for the Tigers.
"There are a lot of opportunities when you start the season, but as the season progresses you have to take advantage of it," Pawlowski said. "So tomorrow is a big opportunity night."
The final game of the series will start tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Plainsman Park.
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