Diamond Hogs outslug Auburn, win series
FAYETTEVILLE — A near-freezing Saturday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium was not enough to cool off the red-hot Arkansas bats.
The Diamond Hogs pieced together nine runs as right-hander Will McEntire turned in his second consecutive quality start, completing the recipe for a 9-3 victory — their 12th straight — over the Auburn Tigers to win the series.
The steady flow of offense began with a trio of unearned runs in the first inning.
Auburn shortstop Cole Foster's errant throw allowed leadoff man Tavian Josenberger to reach first base, and two free passes loaded the bases with one out. Left-hander Zach Crotchfelt fanned his second batter of the inning, clearing him of any responsibility in the earned run column, but designated hitter Kendall Diggs emptied the bases with a double to the opposite field.
"That was the biggest swing of the game by far," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. "We load the bases with one, two and three, and then they get four and five out, and Kendall, he didn’t mess around. He got a fastball, and he stayed through it, split the gap in left-center, we’re off and rolling. That was big."
Free passes struck again in the top of the second, generating the Tigers' first run of the game. With the bases loaded and nobody out, left fielder Chris Stanfield bounced into an RBI fielder's choice, but that was all they could manage against Arkansas right-hander Will McEntire in the inning.
Arkansas responded with two runs in its half of the second. Shortstop John Bolton's single paved the way for Josenberger's third homer of the season, which grew the lead to 5-1.
"He had a great at-bat," Van Horn said. "He fouled off, with two strikes on him, I don’t know how many pitches. I know with a full count, he fouled off at least two more, and he just kept throwing him fastballs, and he got him a fastball elevated, and he did a great job of getting on top of it and hit it hard, and it ran out of here fast."
McEntire's no-hit bid reached its end in the fourth, when Auburn infielder Bryson Ware hit the first of his two leadoff bombs against the big righty. Two one-out singles later that inning were no problem, as McEntire retired the eighth and ninth hitters to strand them.
The Bryant native recorded six outs against the next seven Tigers, finishing his afternoon with 91 pitches, six innings, five hits, three earned runs, two walks and six strikeouts.
"Last week was outstanding, and today was really good," Van Horn said of McEntire. "Wasn’t his best, but it was good enough to hold down a good offensive team for a while."
He turned the ball over to righty Dylan Carter for the seventh with a 9-3 lead, thanks to a four-spot in the bottom of the fifth.
Second baseman Peyton Stovall was the first of nine Hogs to bat in the frame, chasing Crotchfelt with an infield single. Arkansas steadily moved the line with a mix of walks and singles as the No. 6-9 hitters each drove in a run, including a pinch-hit single from Hunter Grimes.
"It’s so much easier to pitch with a lead, especially a bigger lead," McEntire said. "You can give up one or two and it’s not really gonna hurt you too bad."
Carter locked down his second nine-out save of the season and the Razorbacks' second in as many games, allowing one hit, no walks and no runs on 54 pitches.
"He just comes in and he pounds the zone with three pitches and he makes other teams swing, and if we field it, we’ve got a chance," Van Horn said. "Just like today, he struck out two or three guys, but for the most part he just used the infield, got a couple fly balls and just did a tremendous job."
Arkansas can sweep Auburn when the two squads tangle for a third time at 2 p.m. Sunday. The contest will stream live on SEC Network Plus, accessible through the ESPN app. The Razorbacks will start right-hander Cody Adcock opposite Tiger lefty Konner Copeland, who has allowed 10 earned runs in 12 2/3 innings this season.
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