Razorbacks down Auburn, 5-2, to complete sweep behind Diaz’ homer

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas completed its first sweep of the season, closing out the regular season with a 5-2 win over Auburn on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Bogle Park.

Ashley Diaz hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the first and the Razorbacks never looked back.

Hannah McEwen was on base when Diaz’ home run soared over the left-field wall, giving Arkansas the 2-1 lead.

For the second game in-a-row, the Tigers were the first on the scoreboard. Auburn opened up the contest with a leadoff double by Casey McCrackin and was driven in by Alyssa Rivera on a follow up base hit.

The score remained deadlocked until the bottom of the fifth inning, when sophomore Danielle Gibson connected on the first pitch of the inning far beyond the center-field fence.

Katie Warrick scored Arkansas’ third run of the game, extended the Hogs’ lead to 3-1 after five frames. Warrick reached base early in the inning on a fielder’s choice and after an Auburn error and wild pitch, crossed home.

The Tigers’ Kendall Veach homered to start the sixth inning but Diaz’ bat stayed hot, and with an RBI-double to right-center field in the bottom of the inning, the Razorbacks had the insurance run they needed to close out the win.

Starter Autumn Storms pitched six innings for Arkansas in her 20th win of the season, giving up only four hits.  Mary Haff entered in relief for Storms and earned her fifth save of her sophomore campaign after retiring the Auburn lineup in the top of the seventh.

Notables

• Arkansas has now outhit its opponents in six-straight contests, and 14 of the last 15.

• Storms and Haff combined to recorded 12 strikeouts and not a single walk all weekend.

• The series victory over Auburn extends Arkansas’ home-series winning streak to eight .

• Diaz’ home run was the 30th of her career, pushing her up to fourth all-time at Arkansas for career home runs.

Up next

With the sweep of Auburn complete, the Razorbacks finished the regular season tied for sixth and 12-12 in conference play for the second year in a row.

The Hogs earn the ninth seed after a four-way tie in the SEC rankings between Florida, Missouri and Georgia.

Arkansas will face eighth-seeded Georgia in the first round on Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m.