Missed Opportunities Send Auburn Baseball Out of SEC Tournament

Auburn baseball outhit the Arkansas Razorbacks and had another strong outing on the mound, but it wasn’t enough in a 2-1 loss in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama.

The Tigers recorded seven hits to Arkansas’s five in the second game of the day at the Hoover Met, but couldn’t plate enough runs to be enough to play on Sunday.

For the third straight game, Auburn only used two pitchers and struck out a collective 15 batters of a total of 34 faced. Starter Alex Petrovic didn’t allow a run in four innings pitched, but a two-hour lightning delay forced him out of the game on Saturday.

Auburn was 1-for-8 in at-bats with runners on base in the loss. The Tigers couldn’t get a hit with a runner in scoring position, which they had opportunities in five different instances.

“If you looked at the defense for the time we were here, the pitching we run out there, some moments we had offensively, even I think we out-hit 'em tonight,” head coach Butch Thompson said after the game. “Coming out of the rain delay, just didn't score or put anything together there.”

The Razorbacks took advantage after play resumed in the fifth inning. Shortstop Camden Kozeal punched a single through the gap to tie the game, and the Razorbacks would use an eighth-inning homer to score the go-ahead run to move into the SEC Championship.

Outfielder Bub Terrell gave the Tigers the lead in the second inning with a solo shot into right-center field. Two innings later, he helped keep it, robbing Arkansas batter Nolan Souza of a home run in the top of the fourth to cap off a standout game.

That gave Thompson and his group the momentum going into the rain delay, but eventually, it would shift.

AND AIRBUB TAKES AWAY 🕸️@AuburnBaseball x #SECTourney pic.twitter.com/MKHkKFlYC3
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) May 23, 2026

In relief, junior Ryan Hetzler held his own against a strong Arkansas offense, but didn’t have the bats behind him to grow a lead. He struck out a career-high eight batters in five innings while allowing three hits and the two earned runs that ended up being the difference maker.

Now, Thompson’s group will await its fate on Sunday night, when the NCAA will release which teams will host regional-site games to open the NCAA Tournament. Auburn is expected to host, being the No. 5 seed in D1Baseball’s most recent projection. That would be enough for a Super Regional as well if the Tigers remain at that seed line ahead of tomorrow.

However, the Auburn head coach believes that the experiences from the tournament will bring an optimistic outcome in the NCAA Tournament.

"The game tonight, we played a little bit this year, and so that's the one thing I told the guys, keep working hard, we get to try to play for another championship next week, " Thompson said, "and that's one more last little step of completion."

The rest of the field will be announced on Monday on ESPN2.

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