Arkansas Baseball Drops Series Against Auburn 2-1

The Razorbacks were on the bubble to host a regional going into the weekend series with Auburn, with it widely believed Arkansas had to win the series to get the hosting spot.

If that's true, so much for that.

The Hogs suffered one of their classic hitting-free games on Thursday and Friday. Auburn shut out Arkansas 3-0 on Friday, but Arkansas won 1-0 Friday on another dominant pitching performance from Ryne Stanek. But Saurday, oh Saturday.

Simply, the fifth inning was one of the most disappointing innings in recent Razorback history. The Hogs led 3-1 going into the bottom of the fifth, but allowed a whopping 8 runs. It was the most Arkansas has given up in an inning all year. The entire Auburn batting order made it to the plate. It was an absolute disaster. Arkansas did manage to score 6 runs, which is the most Arkansas has scored in a losing game all year.

Ugh.

So if Arkansas is going to host a regional, the Hogs will need a great run in the SEC Tournament this week. We'll be following along.

Here's the weekly recap from UA:

The No. 13 Arkansas baseball team dropped two of three games on the weekend, losing a series at Auburn. The Razorbacks finished the regular season with a 35-19 overall record and an 18-11 mark in Southeastern Conference play, finishing the league scheduled with the third-best conference record. Arkansas won seven of its 10 conference series for the first time since the 2004 season.

The Arkansas pitching staff had a 2.52 team ERA in the series at Auburn. Ryne Stanek earned his eighth win of the season in the second game of the series, striking out for and scattering six hits in 7.2 innings. Stanek lowered his season ERA to 1.54 and his ERA in conference play to 0.97, which ranks as the lowest ERA in SEC play.Barrett Astin started the series opener and fanned seven, while allowing three unearned runs in 6.1 innings.Colby Suggs picked up his 11th save of the season in the second game against the Tigers, striking out the side in a perfect ninth inning. Suggs is one save shy of tying the school record for single-season saves. Jalen Beeksand Michael Gunn each turned in a scoreless appearance out of the bullpen.

At the plate, the Razorbacks hit .191 in the series against the Tigers. Brian Anderson led Arkansas at the plate, hitting .556 (5-for-9) with three runs scored and three walks. Dominic Ficociello drove in a team-high four runs and went 3-for-11 at the plate, while Jake Wise was also 3-for-11 in the series. Brett McAfee hit his first homer of the season and drove in two runs in the series finale vs. the Tigers.

Arkansas, which earned the No. 3 seed, opens play in the 2013 SEC Tournament on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. against the winner of the first round game between No. 6 seed Ole Miss and No. 11 seed Kentucky. The Rebels and Wildcats will face off in a single-elimination game on Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday’s game will be televised on Comcast Sports Southeast, Cox Sports Television and will also be available on ESPN3.com.