Auburn came into Saturday’s doubleheader in sole possession of first place in the SEC. Auburn appeared poised to build on last weekend’s series victory over No. 8 Mississippi State behind Keegan Thompson, but arch rival Alabama had other plans.
Alabama sophomore Chandler Taylor hit two home runs off Thompson as the Crimson Tide snapped a 13-game SEC losing streak and defeated No. 4 Auburn 4-3.
Wasted opportunities were the name of the game for the Tigers in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Auburn left eight men on base and grounded into three double plays. In the ninth inning, Alabama committed two errors to give Auburn life, but the errors were followed by a double play and strikeout.
The Crimson Tide jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a home run by Taylor and a RBI infield single by Chandler Avant.
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 Conor 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.
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.
Thompson went eight innings for Auburn allowing four runs (two earned) on eight hits. He fell to 5-3 on the season.
Jake Walters (5-4) picked up the victory for Alabama while Davis Vainer earned his fourth save of the year.
Auburn fell to 32-15 overall and 14-8 in the SEC with the loss. Alabama improved to 16-29 and 3-19.
Game two of the doubleheader will begin at 5:05 p.m. CST. Casey Mize (6-1, 1.23 ERA) will be on the mound for Auburn. It will be Mize’s first start since April 13 after dealing with forearm tightness.
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