Arkansas didn't win a road series last season. This year, it can't seem to lose one.
The No. 9 Razorbacks won their third road series of the season with an 8-0 victory at No. 15 Auburn on Saturday.
Arkansas (24-8, 8-4 SEC) moved one game ahead of the Tigers in the SEC West standings and could finish the day in first place of the division.
The series win was undoubtedly the biggest yet for the Razorbacks, who had lost four consecutive games entering the back end of a doubleheader Friday. Arkansas won that game 9-6 in 15 innings and never let the foot off the gas Saturday.
The Razorbacks improved to 3-1 this season in Game 3 rubber matches.
"We did everything really well today," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "We pitched outstanding.
"In the last 24 hours I think this team grew up a lot, showed a lot of toughness and I’m really proud of them."
Heston Kjerstad had a two-run single in the third inning to give the Razorbacks the lead, Trevor Ezell hit a three-run home run to center field in the fifth and Arkansas scored three playing small ball in the seventh against a shorthanded, beleaguered Auburn pitching staff.
"That was a big swing there in the fifth inning when we had two on and one out, and Ezell hit one out to dead center," Van Horn said. "At the time there was a light breeze blowing straight in and we didn’t think it was going out of the park. He kept it low and really drove it. That was a big swing.
"We put together three good innings where we put together a crooked number - a two-run, three and three, and got that good lead."
The Razorbacks outhit the Tigers 10-5, and took advantage of nine walks issued by the Auburn pitching staff.
Auburn freshman right hander Richard Fitts allowed five runs in 4 1/3-innings and took the loss in his first start.
"It's just hard when you're pitching behind. You just don't want to give up any more (runs)," Auburn Butch Thompson said. "We never got into it offensively to give us any kind of spark. (Edouard) Julien had two hits, but other than that we were pretty quiet."
Pitching on short rest, Arkansas starter Patrick Wicklander threw five scoreless innings to earn his first conference win. Wicklander, a freshman left hander, struck out six batters and worked around two hits and three walks.
"Wicklander gave us five solid innings, threw a lot of strikes," Van Horn said. "He had a good fastball going and mixed in enough off-speed to keep them off-balanced.
"That was what we wanted - five innings. If he could have given us four, that would be OK, but five was the magic number for us. We felt like if we could keep it close or maybe have a lead after five that we could piece it together. We had a lot of guys volunteering and stepping up, and they all did their job."
Auburn (23-9, 7-5) had runners aboard in four of Wicklander's five innings, including the leadoff hitter in the first and fourth innings. The Tigers stranded eight runners total.
Cody Scroggins pitched a scoreless sixth inning one day after throwing 54 pitches in the extra-innings win. Zebulon Vermillion threw three scoreless innings to earn his first save.
After struggling in losses to Ole Miss and Arkansas-Little Rock earlier in the week, the Razorbacks' bullpen was pivotal to the series win at Auburn. Arkansas relievers combined to throw 16 innings and allowed four earned runs in the three games.
In the two victories, the Razorbacks' relievers pitched 14 1/3 innings and allowed one earned run.
"I couldn’t have asked for anything better from our pitching staff," Van Horn said. "Defensively we made all the plays. I just thought we did a really good job altogether."
Arkansas has won all of its road series at Southern Cal, Alabama and Auburn this season. The Razorbacks lost all five of their road series last year en route to a national runner-up finish.
Arkansas is scheduled to host Oral Roberts in a non-conference game Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
The Razorbacks play at No. 4 Vanderbilt next weekend. The Commodores are tied with Georgia for the lead in the SEC East.
"The schedule doesn’t get any easier," Van Horn said. "We’ve just got to kind of play and not try to get too excited, continue to get better and stay healthy."
Earlier
Arkansas 8, Auburn 0 - Final
Brody Moore hit into a game-ending double play to erase a one-out single and give the Razorbacks one of their most convincing victories of the season.
Jack Kenley began the double play and Trevor Ezell made a good pick at first base to complete it. Zebulon Vermillion pitched three shutout innings in one of his best outings of the year.
We'll have more from this game soon at WholeHogSports.com.
Arkansas 8, Auburn 0 - Middle 9th Inning
The Razorbacks couldn't do anything with Jack Kenley's two-out double in the top of the ninth. Zebulon Vermillion will pitch again in the bottom of the inning.
Arkansas 8, Auburn 0 - End 8th Inning
Arkansas appears to be closing strong. Zebulon Vermillion recorded a 1-2-3 eighth against the Tigers' 3-4-5 hitters.
The Razorbacks are three outs away from their third road series victory of the year.
Arkansas 8, Auburn 0 - End 7th Inning
Zebulon Vermillion allowed a one-out single to Chase Hall and issued a one-out walk to Judd Ward, but the Arkansas sophomore right hander danced around the runners to record another scoreless inning.
The key play in the inning came after the walk when catcher Casey Opitz threw out Ward at first base after Ward had taken too big of a lead on a pitch to Kason Howell. Howell grounded out to end the inning and strand the Tigers' eighth base runner.
Arkansas 8, Auburn 0 - Middle 7th Inning
The top of the seventh came to an end when Jacob Nesbit was thrown out at the plate by Auburn right fielder Steven Williams. Nesbit stole second - the Razorbacks' third steal of the inning - and tried to score on a Christian Franklin single.
Arkansas scored three runs on three hits and two walks in the inning.
The Razorbacks will turn to Zebulon Vermillion in the bottom of the inning. It might be an instance where Arkansas tries to get some more inexperienced pitchers work with such a big lead.
Arkansas 8, Auburn 0 - Top 7th Inning
Jacob Nesbit's two-run single scored Dominic Fletcher and Jack Kenley on a two-strike pitch with one out. Kenley moved into scoring position by stealing second base.
Nesbit has been one of the Razorbacks' best all year at hitting with runners in scoring position.
Arkansas 6, Auburn 0 - Top 7th Inning
Casey Martin walked to lead off the inning. He stole second base following a pitching change and scored on Dominic Fletcher's double off the wall.
Fletcher moved to third on a deep fly ball by Matt Goodheart. Jack Kenley walked and there are runners on the corners with one out for Jacob Nesbit.
Arkansas 5, Auburn 0 - End 6th Inning
Cody Scroggins worked around a leadoff double by Edouard Julien in the sixth. The key pitch was a 3-2 fastball that caught Steven Williams looking after Julien had reached third on a ground out.
Will Holland flied out to end the inning. Auburn has stranded seven base runners today.
Arkansas 5, Auburn 0 - Middle 6th Inning
Arkansas loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but Heston Kjerstad grounded out to strand three. The Razorbacks have stranded five over the past two innings, something to remember if Auburn can begin to mount any type of comeback.
There was a scary moment for Auburn early in the inning when pitcher Bailey Horn took himself out of the game with an apparent arm injury. Jack Kenley, Casey Opitz and Trevor Ezell all walked in the inning.
Cody Scroggins will pitch the bottom of the sixth for the Razorbacks. He threw 54 pitches last night.
Arkansas 5, Auburn 0 - End 5th Inning
Patrick Wicklander's outing is likely over after he worked around two free passes and a wild pitch to strand two Auburn base runners in scoring position.
Facing the top of the Tigers' lineup for the third time, Wicklander hit leadoff batter Judd Ward with two outs, then walked Kason Howell. Both runners advanced after a wild pitch, but Wicklander got out of the inning when Rankin Woley chased a 3-2 pitch outside the zone.
The Tigers have stranded six base runners today.
Cody Scroggins was warming up in the Arkansas bullpen at the end of the inning, but it's unclear whether he will enter the game in the sixth. He threw 2 2/3 innings in last night's 15-inning marathon.
Arkansas 5, Auburn 0 - Middle 5th Inning
The Razorbacks missed on a chance for an even bigger rally. Heston Kjerstad singled and Casey Martin walked in the first two at-bats after the pitching change, but Dominic Fletcher flied out and Matt Goodheart grounded out to end the top of the inning.
Arkansas 5, Auburn 0 - Top 5th Inning
Trevor Ezell's three-run home run cleared the wall in the deepest part of the ballpark. Batting from the left side, Ezell caught a 1-1 breaking ball from Auburn freshman Richard Fitts, who is being taken out of the game after allowing two walks in the inning.
Ezell also had a home run last night from the right side. He has seven home runs this season, tied with Heston Kjerstad for the team lead. Kjerstad also has two homers in this series.
Kjerstad will be the first batter to face Auburn reliever Blake Schilleci, a left hander with a 7.72 ERA in 4 2/3 innings.
Arkansas 2, Auburn 0 - End 4th Inning
As was the case in Game 2 yesterday, the freshman pitchers are doing well today. Auburn's Richard Fitts needed only seven pitches to retire the Razorbacks in order in the top of the fourth, and Arkansas' Patrick Wicklander worked around a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning.
Edouard Julien had the hit for Auburn, which ricocheted off Wicklander's glove. Had Wicklander not reached for the ball, Arkansas shortstop Casey Martin might have had an opportunity to throw out Julien at first base.
Wicklander has allowed two hits and walked two batters through four innings, but stranded all four base runners. He also has four strikeouts. His pitch count is at 70 and Zebulon Vermillion is moving around in the Arkansas bullpen.
Fitts has allowed four hits and walked one.
Arkansas 2, Auburn 0 - End 3rd Inning
The third was Patrick Wicklander's best inning, a 1-2-3 frame that included two ground outs and a strikeout against the top three hitters in the Auburn order. Wicklander needed only 11 pitches to bring his game total to 49.
Arkansas 2, Auburn 0 - Middle 3rd Inning
Casey Martin battled, but struck out swinging at a 2-2 pitch away to end the half inning. Trevor Ezell was stranded at third base.
Martin fouled off a couple of pitches before Auburn pitching coach Steve Smith came to the mound to talk with freshman right hander Richard Fitts. Martin struck out on the next pitch.
Arkansas made Fitts throw a lot of pitches that inning. His pitch count is now at 51. Maybe more so than Arkansas, Auburn's pitching staff is razor thin today.
Arkansas 2, Auburn 0 - Top 3rd Inning
Heston Kjerstad's two-run single gave Arkansas the lead, but Kjerstad made a base-running mistake when he tried to advance to second base after an Auburn throw to the plate. The throw was cut off and Kjerstad was thrown out for the inning's second out.
Kjerstad's hit came after the Razorbacks loaded the bases with one out in the inning. Casey Opitz and Christian Franklin had back-to-back one-out singles, and Trevor Ezell followed with a walk.
Ezell is at third base with Casey Martin at the plate.
Arkansas 0, Auburn 0 - End 2nd Inning
Both teams stranded one-out base runners in the second inning. Matt Goodheart singled for the Razorbacks' first hit, while Will Holland drew a full-count walk against Patrick Wicklander. The Tigers have stranded three runners already.
Wicklander, who threw Tuesday night against UALR, might be on a lower pitch count today, and he has thrown 38 pitches through two innings.
Arkansas 0, Auburn 0 - End 1st Inning
Arkansas' Patrick Wicklander worked around a leadoff single and two-out walk, and stranded runners on the corners in the first inning. Wicklander got Conor Davis to ground out to shortstop to end the inning.
The Razorbacks went down in order in the top of the inning. Trevor Ezell put a good swing to left field, but was caught a few steps in front of the warning track.
Pregame
Arkansas and Auburn will attempt to beat the storms that are forecast for southeast Alabama later today - an important matchup that will have an early-season effect near the top of the SEC West leaderboard.
Both teams enter today's game 23-8 overall and 7-4 in league play. The Razorbacks and Tigers split a doubleheader Friday that lasted a combined 24 innings.
Pitching is in short supply for both teams. Arkansas will throw freshman left hander Patrick Wicklander (2-1, 4.50 ERA) and Auburn will counter with freshman right hander Richard Fitts (2-0, 3.50 ERA). One big difference: Wicklander is starting for the seventh time, while Fitts is making his first start.
The Razorbacks will go with its usual starting lineup, including Casey Opitz behind the plate. Opitz had five innings off during the second game of the doubleheader yesterday.
Auburn will not start its No. 1 catcher, Matt Scheffler, who caught all 24 innings yesterday.