A fifth-inning rally by the Alabama Crimson Tide helped put Auburn away and secured the series victory for the Crimson Tide in the rubber match.
The Tigers (20-15-1, 5-10 SEC) fell 6-1 to the Crimson Tide (26-11, 6-9 SEC).
“A couple double plays were back-breaking in the game, momentum changers,” said Auburn coach Butch Thompson. “They pitched well enough to win. We moderately pitched better but we’ve got to continue to grow.”
Redshirt junior right-hander Christian Herberholz got the start for Auburn and ended up with the loss, allowing two runs off of three hits, walking three batters and striking out four in four innings of work.
The Tigers turned to senior right-hander Chase Isbell to work out of the jam and he only allowed one run off of two hits in 1.1 innings of action. Freshman right-hander Hayden Murphy made his eighth appearance of the season and allowed one run off of one hit, walked one batter and struck out two in 0.2 innings of work.
Junior left-hander Tanner Bauman was the next pitcher for the Tigers and he allowed two runs off of two hits and struck out one batter in 1.2 innings of work. Sophomore right-hander Chase Allsup pitched the last 0.1 innings and allowed one hit and walked one batter.
Graduate right-hander Jacob McNairy got the start for Alabama and allowed one run off of four hits, walked two batters and struck out five in 3.2 innings of work. Freshman right-hander Riley Quick picked up the win for the Tide in a 3.2-inning outing that saw no runs allowed off of two hits, two walks and two strikeouts. Freshman left-hander Alton Davis II picked up his second save of the weekend in a 1.2-inning effort that saw one walk and two strikeouts.
The Tigers got the scoring started in the top of the fourth inning when senior catcher Nate LaRue hit an RBI single to left-center. That was the only run the Tigers were able to put on the board, however.
The Crimson Tide made some noise in the bottom of the fifth inning when redshirt senior right fielder Tommy Seidl walked to force in a run and when graduate first baseman Drew Williamson singled up the middle to score two more runs and put the Tide up 3-1.
Alabama was able to tack on another in the bottom of the seventh inning when senior shortstop Jim Jarvis stole home. The final two Alabama runs came in the bottom of the eighth inning when junior third baseman Bryce Eblin doubled to left-center to drive in one and Jarvis tripled to center to bring home Eblin.
The 6-1 lead was enough for Alabama to put Auburn away in the final game of the series.
Auburn will be back in action on Tuesday night when the Samford Bulldogs come to Plainsman Park for a midweek contest set for 6 p.m. CDT that will be broadcast on the SEC Network. The Tigers will take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs (22-15, 5-10 SEC) for a three-game series at home this weekend.
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Daniel Locke, junior in journalism, is the community editor for The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @danieljlocke
