No. 25 Auburn invited the 20th-ranked Razorbacks of Arkansas to Jane B. Moore field for its first home conference series of the season and dropped both games on Saturday, 6-1 and 5-1 – Auburn’s first home series loss since April 2022. The Tigers responded on Sunday with a 2-1 win to avoid the sweep.
Inclement weather in the Auburn area moved Friday’s opener to Saturday for a doubleheader.
Here’s a look at each game:
Game 1
Arkansas came out of the gates hot in Saturday’s opener as it jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning on a pair of longballs from former Tiger Bri Ellis and Hannah Gammill.
Arkansas pitcher Morgan Leinstock held the Tigers scoreless until the fourth inning when Anna Wohlers recorded an infield single that allowed KK McCrary to score from second – Auburn’s only run scored in the contest. The Razorbacks added two more runs in the sixth inning, bringing the score to 6-1 which was the final.
Maddie Penta got the start in the circle for Auburn and suffered her fourth loss of the season. She recorded five strikeouts and allowed six earned runs on that many hits. Freshman Malayna Tamborra came out of the bullpen in the sixth inning and gave up just two hits as she held the Razorbacks scoreless in her appearance.
Game 2
It was much of the same in the second contest of the day as a first-inning home run from Arkansas’ Kennedy Miller gave the Razorbacks a 2-0 lead. Auburn’s lone run of the game came in the home-half of the inning as Wohler’s drove in McCrary on a sacrifice fly.
Shelby Lowe got the start for Auburn, going four innings while giving up four runs on four hits – three of which were home runs. Annabelle Widra reliveed her and gave up one run on three hits.
Auburn out hit the Razorbacks 8-7 in the game but could not capitalize as it left eight runners stranded on base.
“We took too long to answer back in both games,” said head coach Mickey Dean on Saturday’s performance. “We did better in game two, but there are things we need to fix before tomorrow. It’s not really physical things. We’re going to have to focus on the little things.”
Game 3
With Penta getting the start in game three on Sunday and Auburn looking to avoid the sweep, the Tigers got off to a fast start in the bottom half of inning number one.
McCrary got things going with a double off the left-field wall, giving the Tigers two runners in scoring position after Rose Roach led things off with a walk. Nelia Peralta drew a walk to give Makayla Packer an opportunity to drive in some runs with the bases juiced – and that she did with a hard-hit ball to shortstop that got through to score two runs.
Arkansas made things interesting the sixth inning as Ellis drove in a run on a dribbler back to third. Widra saved the inning though as she turned a double play on a line shot and recorded another out at third as the Arkansas baserunner was left stranded.
Penta went the distance – recording four strikeouts and giving up six hits on the day.
The Tigers fell to 14-6 and 2-4 in SEC play. Up next for the Tigers is a trip to Troy on Tuesday to take on the Trojans. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
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Logan Fowler is a junior from Sumiton, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He joined The Plainsman in Spring 2024.
