AUBURN, Ala. — For five straight games the Razorbacks couldn’t get a result like this.
On Friday night at Plainsman Park, left-hander Hunter Dietz gave them exactly what they’d been missing.
Dietz worked 7 dominant innings against one of the SEC’s hottest offenses, striking out 11 without issuing a single walk and allowing just 1 earned run on 6 hits.
His career-high 106-pitch effort carried Arkansas to a 3-2 victory over Auburn and snapped a five-game losing streak that had threatened to derail the Razorbacks’ season.
Arkansas improved to 20-12 overall and 5-6 in SEC play.
The win also snapped a five-game skid in conference games and set up a rubber match Saturday at Plainsman Park at 2 p.m.
The Tigers entered Friday at 21-9 and tied with Arkansas at 5-6 in the SEC.
They didn’t score after the second inning.
Dietz Controls the Game Early
Auburn scratched across runs in each of the first two innings, and for a moment it looked like another long night ahead for the Hogs.
A throwing error by catcher Ryder Helfrick in the first helped the Tigers plate their opening run when Bristol Carter stole second and scored on Chris Rembert’s RBI single.
Auburn pushed the lead to 2-0 in the second when Eric Guevara led off with a double and scored on Ethin Bingaman’s RBI single.
Then Dietz took over.
He navigated traffic in the third, fourth and fifth innings, including stranding leadoff runners in the second and fourth.
In the seventh, Mason McCraine singled, stole second and reached third — and Dietz still wouldn’t crack. He got Bristol Carter to ground out to shortstop on his final pitch to end the inning and his night.
Dietz and left-handed closer Ethan McElvain combined to retire the Tigers’ final eight batters.
Auburn stranded 5 runners on the night and didn’t score after the second inning against a duo that simply refused to give an inch.
Helfrick Provides the Offense
Dietz’s effort would’ve meant nothing without Helfrick’s bat, and the junior catcher delivered twice.
Helfrick’s solo home run in the sixth inning cut Auburn’s lead to 2-1. Facing No. 1 Auburn starter Jake Marciano, he failed on a first-pitch bunt attempt before unloading on a 2-1 breaking pitch, sending it 401 feet to left field and over the 37-foot War Eagle Wall.
Then in the eighth, with closer Jett Johnston on the mound, Nolan Souza reached on a 1-out opposite-field single. Helfrick worked the count, laid off a 1-2 slider and jumped on a 2-2 fastball left over the plate. His 398-foot shot to center field gave Arkansas a 3-2 lead it never surrendered.
Marciano was otherwise excellent for Auburn, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 8 in 7 innings.
He retired 11 of 12 batters at one stretch after Arkansas threatened in the second inning when Rutenbar singled,
Maika Niu walked and Zack Stewart added a 1-out single. Helfrick’s sixth-inning homer was the breakthrough the Razorbacks needed against him.
McElvain Finishes It
With Dietz’s night done after 7, McElvain took the ball and made it look easy.
The left-hander retired every batter he faced in his 2-inning save, his first as a Razorback, throwing 17 of 22 pitches for strikes and striking out one.
He and Dietz combined to hold Auburn scoreless over the final seven innings of the ballgame.
Both teams finished with 6 hits and 1 error. The Hogs left 4 runners on base to Auburn’s 5.
For a team that’d dropped five straight, Friday night looked and felt different.
And it started with Dietz taking the ball and not letting go.
