The baseball team's conference struggles continued as Auburn lost 6-2 against Alabama Thursday, March 28 in the first of a three game series at home. The Tigers are now 0-7 in the SEC.
The bullpen struggled against Alabama's hot bats as starter Conner Kendrick pitched five innings and allowed six runs off of nine hits and four walks. Since the LSU opener on March 22, Auburn has allowed an opponent runner on base in 37 of the past 41 innings.
"We did a good job pitching wise except for one inning," said Auburn head coach John Pawlowski. "I thought (Kendrick) left a couple balls up, but you know overall I was encouraged by what I saw. He will certainly get another opportunity out there."
After scoring in the second, a huge third inning for the Tide put the game out of reach early.
The first run came off of a sacrifice fly to right field by Ben Moore scoring Chance Vincent from third. The Tide then scored two runs when Brett Booth hit a double deep over Auburn center fielder Ryan Tella's head. Austen Smith hit an average grounder to left field that should have been a single, but the ball went under Cullen Wacker's glove, turning the play into a triple and scoring one for Alabama to take the lead 5-0.
The Tigers had multiple scoring chances in the game, but could not capitalize. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the third and a full count, Auburn first baseman Garrett Cooper hit into a double play to end the inning.
Charlie Sullivan pitched eight innings for Alabama and only allowed five hits and one run. He also recorded seven strikeouts.
Alabama continued to build their lead in the fifth after a deep hit to center by Moore turned into an easy triple and could have potentially been an inside the park homerun. Two batters later Kyle Overstreet hit a grounder through the middle for the RBI-single, giving Alabama a 6-0 lead.
Austen Smith scored first for the Tide in the top of the second inning after hitting a deep homerun over the left field wall. Smith was 3-for-4 on the night with two RBI's, two singles and a homerun.
Auburn's first score came late in the seventh inning when Blake Austin hit a long and high-flying homerun over the left field wall, his first of the year. Then in the bottom of the ninth Patrick Savage singled down the right field line to bring home Damek Tomscha after his double to left field.
The Tigers had an opportunity for a comeback in the bottom of the ninth with bases loaded, but Tella struck-out and the game was over.
"We have to keep going and sooner or later we're going to bust through with some big innings," said Pawlowski.
Auburn looks to break its SEC losing streak Friday, March 29 against Alabama at 6 p.m.
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