Auburn Baseball: Arkansas Sweeps the Tigers

Well, that was unexpected. Losing the series was always a possibility, but I didn't expect a sweep. I really didn't expect a sweep where Auburn/ bats were a big part of the struggles.

Friday (2-3, Loss)

Runners left on base was the name of the game, Friday night. The Tigers left 14 runners on base, including ending 2 innings with the bases loaded. The Tigers took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the 3rd, and Justin Camp pitched a pretty good 5.1 innings before giving up 2 runs to tie the game in the 6th inning. Gabe Klobosits came on in relief and did an excellent job until allowing the Razorbacks to pick up the walk-off win in the bottom of the 9th.

Auburn had 9 hits, and, unfortunately, Anfernee Grier was not one of the Tigers who to record a hit. He did get on base twice with walks, extending his streak of reaching base, but his 22 game hitting streak is over.

Saturday (7-14, Loss)

Game 2 of the Arkansas game swung on two back-to-back 5-run innings for the Hawgs. This was a close one early, as Arkansas scored one in the 1st and then two more in the 4th. Auburn's bats weren't getting the job done in the first part of the game. It was blown open in the 5th and 6th, when Arkansas scored a total of 10 runs.

Auburn didn't go away quietly, though. The bats awoke in the latter half of the game, including on a Josh Palacios 3-run dinger. The Tigers scored 3 in the 7th, 2 in the 8th, and 2 in the 9th. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough for the comeback, and the Tigers dropped the game and the series with the loss.

Sunday, (2-3, Loss)

Once again Auburn couldn't get anything going. Multiple times the Tigers had runners in scoring position or even with the bases loaded, but couldn't get more than a single run across the plate. Cole Lipscomb pitched a great game before he was pulled, he just didn't get as much run support. Once the bullpen took over, Arkansas picked up a run in the 7th to tie and then 2 more in the 8th to take the lead. It wasn't all on the pitching, either. There were some fielding errors that contributed to the struggles. Auburn had its chances in the 9th, but couldn't extend the game.

The Razorbacks were the 18th ranked team in the nation, but dropping all three is something Auburn really couldn't afford. There were chances to take Friday and Saturday's games, and it just didn't happen. Things don't get any easier, either. The Tigers play Alabama in Montgomery Tuesday night, and then face LSU at home next weekend.