By: Oliver Grigg/ ArkansasRazorbacks.com
Ryder Helfrick’s go-ahead home run in the eighth inning powered No. 12 Arkansas (39-19) to a 2-1 win against No. 6 Auburn (38-19) Saturday at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in the semifinal round of the SEC Tournament.
With the win, the Razorbacks punched their ticket to the championship game for the first time since 2021, when they won their first SEC Tournament title in program history. Seventh-seeded Arkansas will play fourth-ranked and top-seeded Georgia (45-12), the regular-season SEC champion, at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 24, on ABC with Karl Ravech (play-by-play), Chris Burke (analyst), Kyle Peterson (analyst) and Kris Budden (reporter) on the call from inside The Hoover Met.
In a game that was interrupted by a two-hour and 15 minute rain delay in the fourth inning, the Hogs weathered the storm, including an early one-run deficit, to advance to the tournament finals for the sixth time in history. After Auburn entered the delay with the lead thanks to a solo homer in the second, Arkansas came back from the break with new life.
With Tiger starter Alex Petrovic, who tossed four shutout innings with seven strikeouts, out of the game, the Razorbacks tied the game at one in the fifth against reliever Ryan Hetzler. Reese Robinett hit a one-out double off the top of the wall in center field before scoring on Camden Kozeal’s two-out RBI single, his team-leading seventh RBI of the tournament.
In relief of starter Cooper Dossett (2.0 IP, 1 R, 2 SO) and James DeCremer (1.0 IP, 1 SO), Colin Fisher (1.2 IP, 2 SO) and Ethan McElvain (4.1 IP, 6 SO) emerged from the bullpen following the weather delay and combined for six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts to silence Auburn’s offense. McElvain, who earned the win to improve to 6-0 on the year, worked a season-long 4.1 shutout frames to lower his season ERA to 1.08 in 33.1 innings across 18 relief outings.
Tied at one in the top half of the eighth inning, Helfrick stepped up to the plate with nobody on and two outs, blasting a 1-1 offering from Hetzler to deep left, collecting his 16th homer of the year and giving Arkansas a 2-1 lead in the process. The Hogs’ catcher hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth or ninth inning against Auburn for the third time in his career.
Staked with a one-run lead, McElvain retired the Auburn side in order in the bottom half of the ninth inning to seal Arkansas’ victory and clinch a spot in the SEC Tournament championship game. The Razorbacks are seeking their third conference tournament championship in program history, while Georgia is looking for its first tournament championship and is attempting to become the fourth SEC team this decade to win both a regular-season and tournament title.
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