Auburn came into Saturday’s doubleheader with loads of momentum and sole possession of first place in the SEC. The last-place team in the SEC halted that momentum on Saturday.
Alabama, who entered the weekend with two SEC wins, matched that total Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of No. 4 Auburn. The Crimson Tide won game one 4-3 and game two 7-6.
“Just didn’t work out for us today. I’m disappointed. I thought our guys just competed really hard,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “I don’t think they executed. I really thought they tried as hard as they could to finish, especially in that second game.”
Alabama had not won a series since March 12, when they took three-of-four from Arkansas Pine Bluff. The Crimson Tide are now in position since a sweep of Louisiana Monroe on March 5 after entering the series with 13 straight SEC losses.
In game one, the Crimson Tide was led by two long home runs by sophomore Chandler Taylor. The scoring began in the second inning when Taylor hit his 13th home run of the year to dead center field. Chandler Avant drove in the second run of the inning with an RBI infield single.
Auburn got one run back in the bottom half of the inning on a two-out, RBI single by Jonah Todd, but left the bases loaded after Josh Anthony flew out to deep center.
Alabama extended its lead in the fourth inning with an RBI double by former Auburn infielder Connor Short.
In the bottom of the fourth, Auburn appeared ready to explode for a big inning after Jay Estes and Jeremy Johnson led off the inning with back-to-back singles. The Tigers, however, failed to score in the inning after Blake Logan struck out and Bo Decker grounded into a double play.
Alabama scored what proved to be the winning run in the seventh inning when Taylor launched his second home run of the day to deep left-center field.
Auburn rallied back for two runs in the bottom half of the seventh with two-out RBI hits by Anthony and Conor Davis to cut Alabama’s lead to 4-3. Auburn failed to get another man to scoring position the rest of the game.
Auburn starter Keegan Thompson tied a season-high with eight innings pitched allowing four runs (two earned) on eight hits. He fell to 5-3 on the season.
Auburn left eight men on base and grounded into three double plays in the game.
Jake Walters (5-4) picked up the victory for Alabama while Davis Vainer earned his fourth save of the year.
In game two, the Crimson Tide jumped out to a 2-0 lead, yet again, on an error by Estes in the third inning.
Auburn answered in the bottom of the fourth with two runs of their own to knot things at two. Dylan Ingram hit his team-high eighth home run of the year to start the scoring and Johnson tied the game with a sacrifice fly.
Alabama regained the lead in the sixth with a RBI single by Cobie Vance. Auburn came right back in the bottom half of the inning, as Josh Anthony blasted his second home run of the year to tie the game at three.
After the Tigers tied the game, Andrew Mitchell came out of the Auburn bullpen in the seventh inning and immediately gave the lead back to the Crimson Tide. Kyle Kaufman began the inning with a single and scored on a RBI double by Sam Finnerty. Alabama added an insurance run on a suicide squeeze by Zack Coker.
The Crimson Tide added two more runs in the eighth inning on a two-run single by Kaufman.
Auburn battled back in the bottom of the eighth to cut the deficit to 7-5 and get the tying run to second base. With runners on second and third and two outs, Estes struck out for the third time in the game.
In the ninth, Auburn cut the lead to 7-6 with a two-out RBI single by Johnson. Logan pinch hit for Decker with runners on the corners and two outs, but struck out looking to end the ballgame.
“We were in figure it out mode the whole day,” Thompson said. “Trying to figure out how to hang on, hang in there and keep it close, but we couldn’t do enough to find a win today.”
Auburn starter Casey Mize made his first start since April 12 and gave the Tigers six solid innings. He allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and struck out four.
“I thought it was really nice to have Casey back out,” Auburn’s second-year head coach said. “I thought he looked really sharp, really healthy. I thought after he got to about pitch 60 he looked a little fatigued.”
Mitchell (5-2) took the loss for the Tigers allowing four runs (two earned) in 1.1 innings.
Todd and Anthony each had three hits for the Tigers, and Johnson finished with a career-high three RBI. Todd also extended his career-high hitting streak to 15 games.
The Tigers committed three errors and left 11 men on base.
Zac Rogers earned the win out of the Alabama bullpen. Vainer picked up his fifth save of the year and second of the day.
Auburn, who has now lost six straight series to Alabama, fell to 32-16 overall and 14-9 in the SEC with the two losses. Alabama improved to 17-29 and 4-19.
The final game of the series is set for 4 p.m. Sunday. Davis Daniel (3-2, 4.97 ERA) will be on the mound for Auburn. The game will be televised by the SEC Network.
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