The No. 17 Auburn Tigers won only one out of three games against the No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks at home inside Plainsman Park this weekend.
The Tigers lost 1-0 in game one on Thursday and 6-5 in game two on Friday before picking up an 8-6 win in game three on Saturday.
“This week needs to go a long way for us to grow,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “I just stop short of the result thing. Of course we want to win, but these guys have to figure out what they can take from this week and apply and keep giving us that good effort."
The one run of Friday's game came in the top of the first inning when Arkansas' Wehiwa Aloy hit a solo home run over the right field wall.
Conner McBride got the start for Auburn and had a quality outing despite ending up with the loss. McBride threw four innings and allowed only one run off of four hits. He also struck out four batters while only walking two and hitting one with a pitch.
“We had one or two moments there against an elite pitcher, but we weren’t able to put the ball in play or get that one moment,” Thompson said. “I really got a lot of what I wanted out of our guys with effort and everything tonight.”
The second game of the series saw a lot more action than the night before. Eleven total runs were scored off of 18 total hits.
Chase Allsup was on the mound for the Tigers and allowed only three earned runs off of four hits in six innings of work. He also struck five batters out while only walking one.
Auburn was led at the plate by Mason Maners, Cooper Weiss and Carter Wright who each had two hits.
“We don’t always have control over the result or outcome, but we do our effort,” Thompson said. “That’s what I have to do the best job I possibly can of right now. Hopefully they’ll bust through and it’ll go their way.”
A six-run sixth inning in the series finale allowed Auburn to avoid the sweep and earn its first conference win of the season.
Joseph Gonzalez got the start for Auburn, but Parker Carlson ended up with the win. Cooper McMurray led the way for the Tigers at the plate going 2-3 with two hits, four RBI and scoring one run.
“This week needs to go a long way for us to grow,” Thompson said. “I just stop short of the result thing. Of course we want to win, but these guys have to figure out what they can take from this week and apply and keep giving us that good effort."
Auburn is now 15-8 on the season and 1-5 in SEC play.
The Tigers return to action on Tuesday when they host the Jacksonville State Gamecocks at Plainsman Park at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be live-streamed on SEC Network+, and the Auburn Sports Network broadcast for each game can be streamed anywhere on the Auburn Athletics app.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email daniel.locke@1819news.com.
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