After a bit of a rough patch for Auburn baseball, the team triumphed on the road in their first conference win over the top-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. The Tigers took down the Razorbacks 2-1 at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas to snap their six-game losing streak.
Head Coach Butch Thompson was extremely happy with the team, telling AuburnTigers.com that his players have been working hard for a while to get this kind of win. He credited right-handed pitcher and senior Cody Greenhill for being the spark to ignite the team’s flame:
"“We’ve talked about a vision of some things we were going to see,” Thompson added. “It’s just neat when we had a plan and a vision and it came through. I think it all started with Cody Greenhill.”"
Greenhill, who had some time off after injuring his foot fielding a ground ball in February, threw for seven solid innings, striking out five and matching his career-high in innings. He allowed just three hits and only one earned run.
6⃣ pitches, 3⃣ outs.
— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) April 1, 2021
Bull makes quick work of the 1st. pic.twitter.com/skriN4Xtq8
The Tigers’ two runs came from second baseman Brody Moore’s second career home run and catcher Nate LaRue’s sacrifice fly ball that sent Kason Howell across home plate. By the fourth inning, it was a 2-0 contest in favor of Auburn baseball. Overall, only five Razorbacks made it on base.
Though Arkansas entered the game with the SEC’s leading fielding percentage, the Razorbacks made repeat errors that allowed the Tigers to stay on base and ultimately score. The early lead proved essential for Auburn, for when the Arkansas relief pitcher Kevin Kopps entered the game he struck out eight batters and allowed just one hit.
The Tigers will face the Razorbacks in game two of the series today at 6:30 p.m. from Baum-Walker Stadium.