AUBURN, Ala. – Little Rock's bats went cold on a warm day in Alabama and five two-out runs by Auburn in the fifth proved too much to overcome as the Trojans fell to the Tigers 7-0 in the opening game of a weekend series at Plainsman Park.
Offensively, Little Rock managed just three hits on the day, two of which were doubles by
Tyler Williams and
Nathan Lyons, both of which were down the left field line.
Jorden Hussein tallied the other hit for the Trojans and drew Little Rock's only walk of the afternoon.
Auburn struck in the bottom of the first with a home run over Plainsman Park's green monster in left, then again in the second with an RBI single to up the lead to 2-0.
Funk would retire 10 of the next 12 Auburn batters, including a pair of strikeouts, and had helped engineer the first two outs of the fifth inning. Auburn had a pair of runners on, thanks to a double and a walk, but tallied an RBI single, reached on an error to score a run, and then hit a three run home run, all of which came with two strikes to the batter to end Funk's afternoon.
Jacob Weatherley came on in relief and faced one batter, striking him out to end the threat.
But the offense wasn't there for the Trojans on Friday as the final 13 Little Rock batters failed to reach base. 11 Trojans were strikeout victims for Auburn on the day.
Six different pitchers made their way to the mound with Funk getting tagged with the loss after allowing the seven runs, only three of which were earned, with six hits, two walks and four strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work.
The quintet of Weatherley,
Sawyer Smallwood,
Eli Sievert,
Chance Vaught and
Reese Lansville were efficient out of the bullpen, limiting Auburn to no runs on just two hits with three strikeouts over the final 3.1 innings. They were aided by big defensive plays, including a diving catch in center by Williams to end the sixth and keep the Tigers off the scoreboard.
The 7-0 loss marked the first time this season Little Rock had been held scoreless and was the first for the Trojans since a 12-0 loss to 23rd-ranked Oklahoma State in Stillwater on February 26, 2020.
Little Rock will look to bounce back Saturday as the Trojans and Tigers will meet at 2 p.m. at Plainsman Park.
Hayden Arnold will head to the mound for Little Rock with the game airing on the SEC Network.
#LittleRocksTeam
