No. 11 Auburn defeated No. 15 Arkansas, 8-3, on April 4 to claim a baseball series victory at Plainsman Park. The win marks Auburn’s first series triumph over the Razorbacks since 2017 and is their 13th regular season home series win in the last 14 attempts.
The result is significant for Auburn as it demonstrates resilience after losing the previous night’s game and falling behind early in Saturday’s contest. Head coach Butch Thompson said, “The four starters have done so good the entire year, and all three starters were great this series. That might’ve been as set as I’ve seen Jackson Sanders. He came out of the ‘pen, handled it masterfully and had his stuff set. Petrovic’s fourth and fifth innings were poised, masterful. Those two guys did a great job. That gave us chance. This is a team that’s trying to grow and get settled. It was a great response for our offense, only striking out two times.”
Alex Petrovic (5-1) earned the win by pitching five innings with three runs allowed in the second inning but otherwise facing minimal trouble from Arkansas hitters throughout his outing.
Sophomore Jackson Sanders pitched in relief for the first time this season and secured his first career save with four scoreless innings, striking out eight of thirteen batters faced on fifty-four pitches—thirty-eight of which were strikes. “It’s a different kind of adrenaline coming out of the pen compared to starting,” Sanders said.
Offensively, Brandon McCraine led Auburn with three hits and three runs batted in during Saturday’s game while raising his batting average to .347 for the season. “They punched first, but we punched back,” McCraine said.
Auburn continues its homestand with an upcoming matchup against No. 23 Jacksonville State on Tuesday.
