For the third weekend in a row, Auburn suffered a series defeat to a top-10 opponent. After losing 7-4 a night before, the No. 17 Tigers fell to the No. 9 Arkansas Razorbacks, 4-3.
Auburn collected eight hits opposed to the Razorbacks’ six, but 10 stranded runners, including seven in scoring position, were too much for the Tigers to overcome.
“We battled our butts off,” said Auburn head coach Mickey Dean. “That’s all you can ask. We out-hit them.”
Outhitting the Razorbacks is no easy feat. Arkansas ranked 10th nationally with a batting average of .337 coming into the series.
Auburn started Maddie Penta, who went the distance once again. Penta’s six-inning outing lasted 129 pitches, 91 of which were strikes. Penta gave up four runs on six hits while striking out seven, walking three and hitting one batter.
Penta’s record fell to 18-4 after the tough-luck loss in a game in which she pitched masterfully against one of the nation’s top offenses despite a long, difficult opening inning.
“I thought Maddie (Penta) pitched one hell of a game,” Dean said.
The two teams combined to hit two more home runs in the game, bringing the total of homers to eight through two games in the series.
That should come as no surprise, as Auburn came into the series with 58 homers, and Arkansas had 57. This weekend, Arkansas has added five to their total, while Auburn has tacked on three more homers.
Unlike Friday’s game, which saw Auburn down 4-0 after one inning, the Tigers were able to strike early.
In the first inning, Aubrie Lisenby doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on another wild pitch. The Tigers were up 1-0, but their lead would not last long.
Penta had to labor almost immediately. Penta’s first batter forced her to throw 10 pitches before striking out. After a quick flyout, Penta then had to throw 12 pitches to Taylor Ellsworth, who drew a walk.
Next, a nine-pitch at-bat ended in a two-run homer for Arkansas' Danielle Gibson, putting the Tigers behind 2-1. In all, the Razorbacks forced Penta to throw 37 pitches in the first inning alone.
The Razorbacks added on to their lead in the third, when Hannah Gammill singled home Ellsworth, who had walked for the second time just moments before. It was Gammill’s fourth RBI of the series and it put the Tigers behind 3-1.
Much like they did in the early innings of game one, Auburn made an effort to climb back.
In the fourth inning, Sydney Cox and Abbey Smith hit back-to-back singles to lead things off. Much like Friday’s fourth inning both runners were stranded, keeping the deficit at two and wasting a prime opportunity to score.
In the fifth inning, with Lindsey Garcia on base after a walk, Makayla Packer came up to bat with two outs.
Packer, who had no interest in squandering this scoring chance, hit the ball out of the park, her eighth home run of the season. With one swing of the bat, the game was tied at three.
The inning went on, and Auburn looked as if it might regain the lead. The two-out rally that had begun with Packer continued with both Cox and Smith taking walks. However, both were left on when Carlee McChondichie grounded out. For the second consecutive inning, Auburn left two runners on base.
“If you look for anything in that game that was the difference- when we had runners on first and second, the next batter up was unable to move them," Dean said. “Other than that, we battled, and I am proud of our kids.”
Dean was correct. The Tigers did not get a hit with a runner in scoring position in the contest, a huge difference in a one-run loss.
The winning run was scored for Arkansas in the sixth, when a sacrifice fly by Rylin Hedgecock brought Cally Kildow home. Arkansas only had one hit in the inning, a bunt single, but used a lead-off walk and sacrifices to manufacture the winning run.
The Tigers threatened in the seventh with a one-out double from Bri Ellis and a wild pitch to move pinch-runner Kelsey Schmidt to third, but continuing the theme of wasted opportunities, Schmidt became the 10th and final stranded runner for the Tigers following a pair of strikeouts.
The win allowed Arkansas to maintain its place standing on top of the SEC. The Razorbacks (27-7, 8-3 SEC) are in first by half a game over Alabama, who is 8-4 in conference play.
Meanwhile, after opening the weekend in sixth place, Auburn (29-8, 7-7 SEC) has dropped to ninth in the hectic SEC standings.
The Tigers, who have not yet been swept this season, will look to continue that narrative on Sunday. The first pitch from Bogle Park will be at 1 p.m. CST for a game that will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
