AUBURN, Ala. -- The No. 9 Arkansas Razorbacks' losing streak climbed to four games Friday in the first game of a doubleheader at No. 15 Auburn at Plainsman Park, but the Razorbacks finally broke through in the nightcap -- after 15 innings.
The University of Arkansas (23-8, 7-4 SEC) blew a three-run lead in the first game to fall to Auburn (23-8, 7-4) 6-3, but the Razorbacks bounced back in the second game for a 9-6 victory in 15 innings.
"It was probably one of the biggest wins we've had all year because of the way we lost game one," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "I mean, time will tell how big a win that was."
In the second game, the Tigers erased the Razorbacks' 3-0 edge to go up 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Auburn's Ryan Bliss doubled to right field off of Arkansas reliever Cody Scroggins to put the Tigers up a run.
The Razorbacks responded in the top of the eighth inning as Christian Franklin singled to drive in Dominic Fletcher with the tying run.
The Tigers thought they had won the game in the bottom of the 10th inning. With runners on first and second with two outs, Matt Scheffler singled to left and Stephen Williams tried to score from second. Franklin came up firing to home, and Opitz applied the tag as the umpire called Williams safe. After a long review, the umpires reversed the call to keep the game rolling.
The game remained tied into the 12th inning when the Razorbacks broke through. Jack Kenley led off with a walk, and after the Tigers retired Opitz on a fly ball, Trevor Ezell tagged a two-run home run off Auburn reliever Carson Skipper for a 6-4 lead.
The elation was short-lived as Auburn responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning.
Edouard Julien led off the inning by reaching first on an error by shortstop Casey Martin. After a walk and a sacrifice put runners on second and third with one out, Kole Ramage's wild pitch allowed Auburn to cut its deficit to 6-5. Bliss' sacrifice fly would extend the game even further.
In the top of the 15th, the Razorbacks took the lead for good. Heston Kjerstad led off with a home run to right field on a hanging curveball from Skipper. Matt Goodheart's double later drove in Fletcher and Martin with insurance runs.
Kevin Kopps (2-3) picked up the victory with 1⅓ spotless innings of relief, but it was Ramage's 4⅔ innings of relief prior to Kopps that kept the Razorbacks in the game. He gave up 2 unearned runs on 3 hits and 5 walks with 3 strikeouts.
Starting pitcher Connor Noland took another no-decision, going 4⅔ innings while allowing 3 earned runs on 5 hits and 2 strikeouts for the Razorbacks. Fletcher had 4 of Arkansas' 14 hits, and Ezell drove in 4 runs.
Arkansas took an early lead in game one, but the team's inability to capitalize with runners on base proved to be the Razorbacks undoing.
In the top half of the second inning, Arkansas grabbed a 1-0 lead against Auburn ace starting pitcher Tanner Burns after a wild pitch advanced runners to second and third, allowing Jacob Nesbit to drive Fletcher in from third off a sacrifice fly.
The Razorbacks had a chance to widen that gap in the third, but they left runners stranded on the corners after Fletcher struck out swinging.
Arkansas got its offense going again in the fifth inning as Ezell doubled just ahead of Kjerstad's two-run home run for a 3-0 lead.
Despite giving up the three runs, Burns struck out seven Arkansas batters in the second through fifth innings to limit the damage and set the stage for Auburn's rally. Eight of the nine Arkansas starting hitters recorded at least one strikeout in game one, with Franklin leading the way with four and two other Razorbacks with two.
Arkansas' go-to starter Isaiah Campbell kept the Tigers at bay for five innings, but the Tigers found some life with a three-run sixth inning. Campbell actually struck out the first two batters, but trouble began percolating when Rankin Woley singled. Campbell then walked clean-up hitter Edouard Julien before Auburn broke through on Conor Davis' RBI single to cut the deficit to 3-1.
After Campbell walked another batter to load the bases, Ryan Bliss singled to right field to drive in two runs and tie the game at 3-3.
Campbell made it through 6⅔ innings while allowing 3 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks with 7 strikeouts.
"He didn't have overpowering stuff today, like a lot of times," Van Horn said of Campbell. "He just kinda pitched. He didn't have a lot of strikeouts, he kind of pitched to contact. He gave us an opportunity to win the game, he got us into the game, and we let it slip away late."
Auburn scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning off Arkansas relievers Kevin Kopps and Zach Vermillion, with Davis' double down the left-field line providing Auburn with the winning run.
Sports on 04/06/2019