The last time Auburn and Jacksonville State played Auburn pulled off a miraculous come from behind victory.
Tonight that did not happen as Auburn fell to the Gamecocks 6-1.
Rocky McCord Started tonight for Auburn for the first time since March 23 against LSU and pitched well for the first two innings giving up no hits or walks and striking out three batters.
McCord has been nursing some shoulder problems since the LSU game, and the coaching staff has been trying to bring him steadily back, so that he will be available to play this weekend against Arkansas.
"His arm hasn't felt 100 percent, so we've been working him along slowly trying to get him back in there, and that was a big step for him tonight," Auburn head coach John Pawlowski said.
With this plan in place Pawlowki decided to make a change in the third and bring in Daniel Koger to replace McCord.
"Rocky hasn't pitched since LSU so the mindset was to give him one or two innings to get him back out there and make sure he's good to go," Pawlowski said. "I was real encouraged and thought he did an outstanding job, so he will certainly be able to help us this weekend."
After McCord left the game Auburn struggled to find production from its pitchers. Koger gave up five runs in an inning pitched, and by the end of the fourth inning Auburn was trailing 6-0
It was going to take another miraculous comeback for the Tigers to pull off a victory against its final non-conference opponent, but the Gamecocks had a good night on the mound lead by left-handed pitcher Adam Polk who gave up 2 hits and no runs.
"Give them credit they pitched very well and I don't think we made the necessary adjustments to overcome any of the stuff he was throwing up there," Pawlowski said.
Auburn has been playing well lately winning six of its last seven games, but tonight struggled to even score a run.
"It's an emotional roller coaster you go from having a big weekend at Florida and then you have a midweek game sandwiched in here," Pawlowski said. "Our guys are disappointed and they should be. If you don't bring you're A-game against anybody on our schedule then it's going to be a tough night. It was definitely a tough night tonight."
After securing a spot in the SEC tournament with a series victory over Florida last weekend the Tigers are going into a big conference series this weekend against Arkansas.
A good performance could mean higher seeding in the SEC tournament, and a possible NCAA regional tournament berth.
"It's a huge weekend," Pawlowski said. "We can make up a lot of ground this weekend. Tough task Arkansas is very good, but our guys will regroup and be ready to play on Thursday."
Auburn will open the series up with Arkansas on Thursday at Plainsman Park.
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