Four errors, four earned runs out of the bullpen, eight runners left on base and a lack of hits cost Auburn as Samford outplayed the Tigers, winning the Tuesday night game 8-1.
"I don't know where we are still as a program," said Auburn head coach Sunny Golloway. "The roller coaster ride of just being up and down has been really tough on our kids. What we've got to learn how to do is not create that ourselves. We want to be a program that can come from behind and win."
Auburn started the game against the in-state Bulldogs on the front foot.
In the bottom of the first, Auburn scored with a one-out RBI single by Blake Austin to score Ryan Tella, who reached on a single.
But in the top of the third, Samford started off with two straight singles, then scored its first run with a passed ball. Trey Wingenter threw his fourth strikeout, but Damek Tomscha committed two consecutive throwing errors at third base, which brought in two more runs for Samford to make it 3-1.
Another error at third base, a double and a walk loaded the bases for Samford to start off the top of the fourth. With no outs, Wingenter rallied by throwing two more strikeouts and forcing a groundout to leave the inning scoreless.
But Auburn continued to struggle at the plate in the bottom of the fifth with a bunt out, strikeout and groundout.
After allowing a leadoff double in the sixth, Justin Camp came on the mound to replace Wingenter, who threw a career-high seven strikeouts with no earned runs in five innings.
Camp was able to get out of the sixth inning by throwing a strikeout and forcing a double play.
Auburn's offense went down in order in the bottom of the sixth and seventh.
Cochran-Gill then walked a batter, struck another out and allowed a two-RBI base hit to make it 5-1 before Reid Carter came on in relief. Carter threw a wild pitch to bring in Samford's sixth run.
"We've got to find somebody out of that bullpen other than Jay Wade and Terrance Dedrick, we've got to find somebody," Golloway said. "Our bullpen will get better, it has to get better for us to do what we want to do. Thank goodness this is not an SEC game."
In the top of the eighth, Samford's Caleb Bryson hit a two-run homer to give the Bulldogs their final runs of the night.
Auburn only put together two singles and two walks combined in the last two innings to clinch Samford's 8-1 victory.
Auburn will travel to Oxford this weekend for a series against Ole Miss.
"We'll go in there and put our foot on the gas right away and try to push the envelope," Golloway said. "I think you've got two teams who are scuffled a little bit. It's apparent that are league is going to be really tough and every [SEC] game is going to mean the world to us."
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