No. 21 Auburn lost its second straight game against No. 4 Texas A&M on Friday 12-8 to drop the middle game of the series, moving to 16-10 on the season. Auburn trailed the entire game as it was unable to stop the Texas A&M offense.
“Its OK to be frustrated,” said head coach Butch Thompson. “We think a lot of ourselves. I like this roster and coaching staff. To not be able to perform and keep up with the guys in the league, it’s OK to be frustrated. You just can’t be sad and have to keep playing.”
Auburn threw five different pitchers in the game, including the SEC debuts for Alex Petrovic and Ben Schorr. Chase Allsup was credited with the loss, pitching 4.2 innings and giving up five hits and earned runs.
The Aggies tallied a total of 16 hits, three walks and five home runs in the game, scoring at least a run in all but two innings. Texas A&M started the scoring in the first with a leadoff walk followed directly by a home run to take a 2-0 lead. After allowing a double, starting pitcher Allsup retired the next nine batters.
Auburn responded in the top of the second inning with a solo homer from Cooper McMurray to cut the lead to one. The score held until the fourth when a Texas A&M single and double set up a sacrifice fly to centerfield which brought in a run to make it a 3-1 ballgame.
The Aggies scored in each of the next four innings, starting in the fifth with a double that set up a two-run homer to give them a four-run lead.
Auburn put together a three-run inning to start the sixth to bring the Tigers within one. Mason Maners led off the inning with a single, followed by a Cooper Weis walk which set up a double by Ike Irish to bring home Maners. McMurray recorded his second RBI of the game with an infield single to second base, scoring Weiss, and a throwing error allowed Irish to come home.
The Aggies followed up Auburn’s good inning with their own, scoring five runs in the bottom half of the sixth. After a throwing error and a walk allowed two runners to get on, a Caden Sorrell home run cleared the bases. Another double set up a single down the right-field line to bring another runner in to score. The final run of the inning came when Ted Burton hit a single into right field, which led to a poor throw back in to bring a fourth runner in.
A solo home run in both the seventh and eighth innings stretched the Aggie lead to eight going into the final frame. Auburn made a rally attempt with an Irish grand slam in a 10-pitch at-bat to cut the lead down to four.
Two more Tigers got on base for Auburn to potentially bring the game within one, but a groundout and strikeout brought the game to a close.
“I think they kept competing,” Thompson said. “Ike Irish, another extended at-bat. He’s been doing a lot of that recently. McMurray went back-side double.”
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Luke McClure is a junior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in sports production. He joined The Plainsman in fall 2023.
Twitter: @lukemcclure0
