Two weekends ago, Auburn took two-of-three from Mississippi State and was riding high. The Tigers found themselves ranked No. 4 in the country, its highest ranking since 1999. Since then, it has all been downhill for Auburn.
The Tigers dropped their seventh-straight game Saturday as No. 15 LSU completed a sweep of No. 14 Auburn with a 9-1 win.
LSU freshman Eric Walker took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning, which was broken up on an opposite-field home run by Sam Gillikin. Walker went eight innings and allowed just the lone hit and run with three strikeouts to improve to 6-1 on the year.
“(Eric) Walker did a great job,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “He threw strike one time and time again. He was in the bottom of the strike zone most of the day. When we got a pitch to hit, we were just missing it. He took the sting out of our swing and it was very routine today.”
Auburn starter Casey Mize struggled mightily, as he only gave the Tigers four innings, a season-low. He allowed five runs on six hits and only recorded two strikeouts, as he fell to 6-2 on the year.
“You can see that Keegan (Thompson) and Casey are not at a hundred percent,” Thompson said. “When they’re not at a hundred percent it’s tough for us. Them being at a hundred percent is probably the the reason we’ve won six SEC weekends and will go for our seventh next weekend.”
LSU got to Mize in the second inning as three consecutive hits led to three runs in the third inning. Michael Papierski hit his second consecutive two-run homer in as many days in the fourth to give the Bayou Bengals a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning.
Zach Watson led LSU with three hits while Josh Smith and Beau Jordan added two apiece.
LSU improved to 35-17 and 18-9 in the SEC, while the Auburn dropped to 32-21 and 14-13.
“We have to have better at bats. The offense has slowed down some since the two weekends at Arkansas and Mississippi State,” Thompson said. “All around we’ve got to be a little better and not feel sorry for yourself. There’s a bunch of people that don’t feel sorry for us. This team will have to step up with some urgency at home next week with Ole Miss.”
Auburn will host Ole Miss next weekend at Plainsman Park in the final series of the regular season.
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