Hagen Smith pitched six scoreless innings and Wehiwa Aloy hit a solo home run in the first inning to help top-ranked Arkansas to a 1-0 victory at No. 24 Auburn on Thursday.
Smith struck out 12 and escaped a pair of jams in the fourth and sixth innings as the Razorbacks (18-2, 4-0 SEC) won their 14th consecutive game. Smith allowed 3 hits and 2 walks and threw 56 of 87 pitches for strikes.
Right-hander Will McEntire retired all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings. Freshman right-hander Gabe Gaeckle earned his fifth save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Arkansas pitching recorded 17 strikeouts against an Auburn lineup that had not struck out more than 12 times this season and averaged 6.6 strikeouts per game.
The Razorbacks have 54 strikeouts and 3 shutouts and have held opponents to 1 run in 36 innings of SEC play.
"I'm going to state the obvious: we pitched really well," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "Hagen got into a couple of jams ... and he got out of them. Amazing."
Auburn (14-7, 0-4) loaded the bases without a base hit but left them loaded in the sixth inning as Smith concluded his latest gem. Mason Maners grounded out to first base to end the inning.
Smith hit Ike Irish with a one-out pitch and Bobby Peirce reached on a two-out error as left fielder Ross Lovich dropped a fly ball at the warning track. Smith also issued a two-out walk to Chris Stanfield.
The Tigers’ other scoring chance came in the fourth when Irish walked and Peirce singled to lead off the inning. They advanced with a one-out double steal, but Smith struck out the final three batters of the inning, including Maners to end the inning.
Auburn coach Butch Thompson called Smith an "elite pitcher." Smith pitched six scoreless for the second consecutive week and third time in five starts. He has struck out 60 and allowed 1 run in 28 innings dating to his Feb. 23 start against Oregon State.
He lowered his ERA to 1.24 and he has a 0.72 WHIP.
"Smith was as advertised," Thompson said on the Auburn postgame radio show.
After he went to 3-2 against Chris McMurray to begin the ninth inning, Gaeckle blew a 97 mph fastball past the Tigers’ top power hitter for the first out. Stanfield grounded out for the second out of the inning and Maners swung through a 96 mph fastball to end the game.
"We didn’t put enough balls in play against a premier pitching staff to score that run to tie it and two to win it," Thompson said.
Aloy’s two-out, opposite-field home run went 369 feet to right field on a fastball away from Auburn starting pitcher Conner McBride. It came moments after a double play eliminated a leadoff base runner for the Razorbacks.
"He's been swinging the bat extremely well in batting practice," Van Horn said. "He hit two or three balls out of the park in batting practice to right-center.
"I see Wehiwa swinging the bat with a lot of confidence, taking pitches and that's good time for him to get it rolling. We just need to get some of the other guys around him to help out."
McBride hit Peyton Stovall with a 2-2 pitch to begin the game. Stovall was running on a 3-2 pitch to Kendall Diggs in the next at-bat. Diggs swung at a ball outside the zone to try to project Stovall, and Irish threw Stovall out at second base.
Teams were successful in 90% of stolen-base attempts against Auburn coming into the series, but the Razorbacks were 1 for 3. Hudson White, who went 3 for 4 at the plate, was caught stealing after a leadoff single in the ninth.
Arkansas hit into an unconventional double play to end a scoring threat in the third inning. Ty Wilmsmeyer singled and Stovall and Aloy walked to load the bases with one out, but the right fielder Peirce threw out the speedy Wilmsmeyer at home plate after he tagged on a fly ball off the bat of Ben McLaughlin. Irish held on at the plate after a hard collision with Wilmsmeyer.
The Razorbacks out-hit the Tigers 6-3 but stranded eight runners. Arkansas was 1 for 15 with runners on base and 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
"We got runners all over the bases and we just didn't get the big hit," Van Horn said. "It was really good for our team finding a way to win when things really aren't going our way."
The right-handed McBride allowed 1 run, 4 hits and 2 walks and struck out 4 in 4 innings. He threw 41 of 70 pitches for strikes.
"McBride did a nice job for four innings, his first SEC start," Thompson said. "I thought it was solid."
Right-hander Cam Tilly did not allow a hit in 2 2/3 innings of relief. Lefty Tanner Bauman added 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Bauman entered for a left-on-left matchup against Stovall in the seventh and induced a weak line out to strand Nolan Souza at third base.
Right-hander Will Cannon pitched a scoreless ninth for the Tigers.
Why Arkansas won
The Razorbacks' pitching was awesome again with its third shutout in four games, and the lineup provided one big swing.
Player of the Game: Arkansas LHP Hagen Smith
As it has been throughout the season, Smith's slider was strong, but his fastball was an out pitch more often than it has been in some previous outings.
Since he struggled during a one-inning start to begin the year, Smith has been almost untouchable. Over his last 5 starts, Smith has a 0.32 ERA, 0.64 WHIP and is averaging 19.3 strikeouts per 9 innings.
Up next
The teams are scheduled to play Friday at 6 p.m. but rain is in the forecast. If they are unable to play Friday, two 7-inning games would be necessary Saturday.