For the first time in the 2022 season, No. 17 Auburn gets swept in a three-game series, as it falls victim to No. 9 Arkansas 17-4 in five innings on Sunday.
This game was an offensive explosion for Arkansas, as it put up five runs in the first inning, four in the second, four in the third and four more, just to put an exclamation point on the win, in the fourth.
In Arkansas' big offensive day, Auburn fed the Razorback effort with unforced mistakes. The Tigers made two errors and handed Arkansas six free bases on walks.
“If you look at the scoreboard, we got our butts kicked,” said Auburn head coach Mickey Dean. “But we didn’t give ourselves a chance in the circle. With eight hits and 17 runs, those numbers don’t match up. We had too many free passes ahead of their big hitters. We competed at the plate against Mary Haff. She is one of the best pitchers in the SEC. We faced her twice and chased her out of both games.”
Although the Razorbacks scored 17 runs, six of them were unearned, including five to set the scene in the first inning. Their run total more than doubled their hit total of eight.
Beginning the game, KK Dismukes took the mound for Auburn, and it looked as if she might ease through a perfect first inning after inducing two quick outs. Much of the opposite happened, as a two-out error from right fielder Kelsey Schmidt kept the Razorbacks hopes alive, and they took advantage of the opportunity.
With three singles in a row, followed by a three-run homer from Arkansas' Kacie Hoffman, Arkansas had an early 5-0 lead for its starter, Mary Haff, to work with.
Haff had a big lead, but didn't need much of that leeway, as she was scoreless through her first three innings. By that point, she had a 9-0 lead, and all the Razorbacks needed was an eight-run advantage through the fifth inning to end the game early by means of mercy rule.
Tacking on once more in the bottom of the third was the Razorbacks, when Taylor Ellsworth hit a grand slam to make it 13-0.
The Tigers didn't go down without a fight, as they posted four runs of their own in the fourth inning, looking to stay in the game and avoid the run rule.
Hoping to spark a comeback, the Tigers strung together four extra-base knocks in the frame. Lindsey Garcia led things off with a solo homer to center field. After two straight outs, they collected a home run from Bri Ellis, double from Schmidt and the third bomb of the inning from Riley McNemar to cap off the only run-producing inning of the contest for Auburn.
With three dingers in the inning, Auburn pushed its team season home run total to 64 through 38 games after totaling just 22 in all of last season.
Ellis, the freshman first baseman, also launched her team-leading 13th long ball of the season after Aspyn Godwin led the squad with just five last season. That home run puts her five homers away from Kasey Cooper's freshman season record of 18.
However, Arkansas squashed the comeback effort with a three-run triple by K.B. Sides, and a sacrifice fly knocked her in for the fourth run of the inning. This marked the Razorbacks' third straight consecutive four-run frame.
In the fifth inning, Arkansas reliever Chenise Delce shut the door on the Tigers with a three-up-three-down frame. Outside of the explosive fourth, Auburn did not get any hits. The Tigers struck out seven times in the contest.
On a rare day without seeing Maddie Penta in the circle, the pitching struggled. Dismukes, Shelby Lowe and Samantha Yarbrough split the four innings up and allowed a combined 11 earned runs. Dismukes, who went 1.2 innings and allowed three earned runs, was attributed the loss, making her 2-2 on the season.
The Tigers fall to 29-9 and 7-8 in league play this season, and Arkansas stays on top of the SEC, rising to 28-7 with a 9-3 conference record.
Up next, Auburn plays another road matchup on Wednesday at Mercer. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. CST.
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