Auburn could not finish out the game as it fell to No. 2 Florida Saturday night 12-5 at Condron Ballpark, tying the weekend series at one a piece.
The game included three different lead changes in the first few innings. In the third inning, the Gators gained the lead with a five-run bout that ultimately proved to be the deciding factor in the game. Florida had an answer in the bottom half of the inning to every run that Auburn scored at the top.
"That was the difference in the ballgame for me," said head coach Butch Thompson. "All three times we scored tonight, not only did they score the very next half inning, but they scored more than we scored in the top half. They answered us each and every time we scored and created offense."
Auburn (18-8-1, 3-5 SEC) initiated offensive runs in the first inning for the second time in the past 48 hours. Cole Foster was the first of the Tigers to get the offense rolling, nailing a leadoff single through the right side. Then Bobby Peirce walked before an inadvertent pitch moved both runners into scoring position. Ike Irish ended up driving in his fifth run of the weekend with a grounder to the right side of the field.
Florida (23-5, 6-2 SEC) then tied the game back up and was able to tack on some more runs with an infield single accompanied by a two-run homer in the bottom of the second. It was going well for the Gators right up until the Tigers matched them with a two-run homer of their own in the third to retake the lead, 3-2. Foster produced a leadoff walk while Peirce hit one over the right field wall for his second homer of the season.
In the bottom of the third, Florida rallied to answer the Tigers with five runs to make the score 7-3. The inning started off rough for Auburn with an error, that gave the Gators three unearned runs.
After Armstrong made his first start at the mound, Christian Herberholz pitched two scoreless innings in relief along with three strikeouts. Zach Crotchfelt succeeded Herberholz and made the final out of the fifth inning. Yet, Florida tacked on another run in the sixth to extend its lead.
The Tigers had the bases loaded up in the seventh, and Bryson Ware came through with a two-run RBI single back up the middle to cut the lead to 8-5. That gave Ware his 11th consecutive game with a hit and his 28th consecutive game reaching base. Auburn reloaded the bases thanks to a two-out walk but ended the inning off a groundout to the pitcher.
Florida didn’t let Auburn catch back up as it extended its lead to six with three two-out runs in the bottom of the inning.
Peirce led Auburn with a 2-for-3 night including two runs, two RBIs and two walks. Foster also had two hits, and Ware had two RBIs in the game.
Auburn and Florida square off in the series finale on Sunday at 12 p.m. CST. The game will be televised on SEC Network+.
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William Halliday started with The Plainsman in fall 2022. He is a journalism major from Memphis, Tennessee.
Twitter: @wphalliday3
