Chadwick provides timely lift for Hogs

Cannon Chadwick pitches for Arkansas Friday, April 14, 2017 during the sisth inning against Georgia at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.

AUBURN, Ala. -- Arkansas found its back planted firmly against the wall in the bottom of the second inning Saturday afternoon.

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After an embarrassing 15-2 loss Friday night, the Razorbacks faced an early, three-run deficit and was staring at the threat of another game slipping out of hand.

Everything changed when Cannon Chadwick was summoned from the bullpen to replace starter Trevor Stephan after just 1 1/3 innings.

The Paris, Texas, senior struck out consecutive Auburn batters to strand two baserunners and stymie the Tigers' momentum, and Jared Gates shifted that momentum to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville with a game-tying, two-run home run in the top of the third.

Gates' blast awakened the Razorbacks' offense, and the bullpen took care of the rest in a 7-3 victory that tied the series 1-1 on a sunny day at Plainsman Park.

"We've got a lot of good chemistry, and it's genuine," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "They believe that we can win, and they just kept fighting and worked to get another pitch. Next thing you know, we tied it up and got out of a couple of jams. It just says that we're pretty tough-minded. They'll fight you to the end."

Chadwick's 4 1/3 innings -- the longest outing of his career -- keyed a dominant performance by the Arkansas (32-9, 12-5 SEC) bullpen, but no outs were bigger than the ones he recorded immediately upon his entry.

Auburn (29-12, 11-6 SEC) led 3-0 and was threatening with runners on first and second and the heart of the lineup coming up. Chadwick dispatched Jay Estes on three pitches and got Daniel Robert to swing and miss to escape the jam.

"That was huge from Cannon to come in there and to end that inning and kind of kill that momentum and get the momentum in our dugout," Gates said. "That definitely helps when a pitcher goes out there and shows that kind of fight and confidence. It showed the next half inning, so that was big for us."

Down 3-0, Luke Bonfield drove in the Razorbacks first run in the third inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Jake Arledge, who drew a one-out walk after falling behind 0-2 in the count. Gates, batting cleanup for the first time in SEC play, tied the game three pitches later with a two-run home run that came to rest beside the Arkansas bullpen in right-center field.

"We got punched in the mouth early on," Gates said. "They scored two in the first, one in the second. It kind of felt like more of the same. But I think that swing took a lot of pressure off not only myself, but the team. Like, 'Hey, we're all right. We're Arkansas. We're here to play.'"

The Razorbacks took their first lead of the series in the sixth inning. Dominic Fletcher drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Jax Biggers followed with an RBI single to left center off Auburn reliever Andrew Mitchell, who walked the first three batters he faced after replacing starter Davis Daniel.

The two-run cushion was all the Arkansas bullpen needed.

Chadwick, Evan Lee and Jake Reindl combined to allow no runs and just two hits over 7 2/3 innings.

Auburn mounted few real threats against the Arkansas bullpen with the exception of the sixth and eighth innings.

Chadwick hit three batters to load the bases in the sixth, but Lee entered and struck out Jonah Todd, Auburn's leadoff batter, with a low breaking ball on the eighth pitch of the at-bat.

The Tigers put two runners on base with one out in the eighth inning before Reindl drew another swing-and-miss from Todd on a fastball to leave them stranded.

"They're really hot right now," Van Horn said. "They took a lot of good at-bats. You think about it, for all last night and two innings today, they put it on us pretty good. I just thought our pitchers were good enough out of the pen today to slow them down a little bit where we could catch up."

The victory gave Arkansas sole possession of second place in the SEC West. The Razorbacks will have an opportunity to win their second consecutive SEC series and tie Mississippi State atop the standings in today's 3 p.m. series finale.

"Friday night was one to forget," Gates said. "I think it shows a lot about our team coming out here and fighting and getting one back. Tomorrow's for all the marbles, so that's kind of what you play for."

Sports on 04/23/2017