No. 14 Auburn’s season-high losing streak reached six games Friday night in Baton Rogue, Louisiana, as No. 15 LSU defeated the Tigers 5-3.
“I just told our team we either win or we learn,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “We’re in a tough run, like life, of trying to learn what this is trying to teach us. We’ll continue to try to learn something and come out tomorrow and win a game.”
LSU led 3-0 after five innings before Auburn battled back with a single run in the sixth and two runs in the seventh to tie the game.
In the bottom of the seventh, LSU catcher Michael Papierski took Auburn starter Keegan Thompson out of the ballpark in right field to give LSU a 5-3 lead they would not relinquish.
Auburn outhit LSU 9-7, but left eight men on base compared to LSU’s five. Auburn finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and 2-for-16 with runners on base.
Todd finished 4-for-5 with an RBI for the Tigers. Jay Estes finished with two hits, and Dylan Ingram went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Keegan Thompson (5-4) took the loss for Auburn going seven innings and allowing five runs on six hits. He struck out four and walked two.
“The two home runs, the nine-hole with the runner on second base and then Papierski’s when we worked so hard to tie it, I thought outside of those two swings, he was about as efficient as he’s been,” Auburn’s second-year head coach said.
“Our offense has got to score some more runs. We’ve scored three runs now in two games. That’s hard to win at home, on the moon, on the road at Alex Box Stadium. We’ve got to keep going until it happens. I thought the effort was unbelievable tonight by our ball club and we played hard. That probably lets us know that we’re closer to coming back and getting a win.”
Zach Watson and Papierski each had a home run and two RBI for LSU. Zack Hess (6-1) picked up the win for the Bayou Bengals, and Hunter Newman picked up his eighth save.
LSU improved to 34-17 overall and 17-9 in the SEC, while Auburn fell to 32-20 and 14-12.
LSU will look to sweep Auburn and send the Tigers to their seventh-straight loss Saturday at noon. First pitch from Alex Box Stadium is set for noon on the SEC Network.
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