Trey Killian can't seem to catch a break this season. Or run support.
Auburn plated a pair of unearned runs and held off a late Arkansas rally for a 2-1 win at Baum Stadium in the SEC series opener.
“They are all tough," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "The later you get in the season, they get a little bit tougher especially when we have been playing so well. Trey pitched well, I thought Ortman pitched extremely well. We had a couple of chances.”
The Razorbacks loaded the bases in the 9th but pinch hitter Clark Eagan flew out to center to end the threat and the game.
“That was a hanging slider," Van Horn said of the game's final at-bat. "That was a mistake. He gets on top of that ball and its gets down for a single or a double and the game is over. But he didn’t, he was a little bit late. That was a hanging slider that could’ve been hit pretty hard and it wasn’t. That is kind of the way our night went.”
Killian lowered his season ERA to 2.30 but saw his record fall to 2-7. Killian struck out a season high eight while he walked just one.
Arkansas took a 1-0 lead in the 5th when Jake Wise drove in a run on a fielder's choice but the Hogs' defense gave the lead up in the 6th.
A pair of Arkansas errors allowed a pair of runs to score for the Tigers and was good enough for the win.
Auburn's Dillon Ortman picked up the win after throwing 8 1/3 innings while striking out five and scattered six hits.