Arkansas walks off on mistake-prone Auburn
Mistakes in the field and on the base paths cost No. 13 Auburn dearly Sunday.
The Tigers allowed three unearned runs and had a run taken off the board in a 5-4 walk-off loss to No. 5 Arkansas at Baum Stadium. The Razorbacks sweep the three-game series to improve to 24-9 overall and 8-4 in the SEC while Auburn falls to 23-10 and 4-8.
“Our guys gave us everything they absolutely had,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “It’s on me that I haven’t got them in a position to get over the hump because I thought everyone of our guys battled.”
Arkansas reliever Jake Reindl (2-1) earned the win holding Auburn without a hit for the final six innings and striking out a career-high nine. With the game tied 4-4 in the ninth, Heston Kjerstad bounced a two-out RBI single up the middle off Cody Greenhill to end the game.
Leading 3-0 in the third inning, the Tigers added a run on what was ruled an RBI single by Jay Estes. It should have been a two-run home run but Brett Wright, who walked to leadoff the inning, started running back to first base after thinking the ball was caught and Estes was called out for passing him on the base path.
The umpire didn’t immediately signal home run, causing confusion among Auburn’s base runners and base coaches.
“Even from the dugout it looked like the ball had been caught,” Thompson said. “The umpire didn’t know what to call and when that happened I think Brett thought the ball was caught and he came back and Estes had passed him.”
Auburn struck for three runs off Arkansas starter Isaiah Campbell in the second. Judd Ward started the rally with a one-out infield single and moved to second on a single by Dylan Ingram. Josh Anthony doubled home Ward and Edouard Julien followed with a double to score Ingram and Anthony.
Auburn starter Tanner Burns held Arkansas to two runs, one earned, in 6.0 innings. He struck out seven and issued two walks on 94 pitches. Arkansas got two in the fourth on back-to-back doubles and then a two-out throwing error by Anthony allowing a run from third.
“Tanner Burns was masterful, I thought, against a great lineup,” Thompson said. “I hope that gives him so much confidence.”
The Razorbacks added two unearned runs off Calvin Coker in the seventh off two hits, a throwing error by Luke Jarvis and a wild pitch. Andrew Mitchell got the final out of the seventh before turning it over to Greenhill with one on and no outs in eighth.
Greenhill (1-1) took the loss after walking the leadoff batter in the ninth, who was bunted over to second base and eventually scored on the Kjerstad single.
Auburn plays at Samford Tuesday night at 6 p.m. CT on the SoCON Network. The Tigers return to SEC action Friday for the start of a three-game series against Mississippi State at Plainsman Park.