After weather cancellation, Auburn played the final two seven inning games of its series against Mississippi State on Sunday, with the second game going to extra innings, in a clean sweep for the Bulldogs.
Game One
Runs came at a premium in game two of the three-game series, with the Bulldogs looking to clinch the series against the Tigers.
Both teams struggled to find runs early until Mississippi State started the scoring with an RBI single after Auburn starter Tanner Bauman allowed a lead-off single followed by a walk and gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
John Armstrong relieved Bauman but could not limit the damage as a single through the left infield and the help of a throwing error scored another runner and put Mississippi State up 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth.
Auburn quickly cut the lead in half with a lead-off home run from designated hitter Kalen Freeman, his first hit as a Tiger, cut the lead in half.
However, another RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning brought the Bulldogs’ lead back to two runs and put the game out of reach, as they defeated the Tigers in game two of the series 3-1.
Game Two
With a sweep on the line, Mississippi State struck first in the bottom of the second inning with back-to-back two-out singles and drove in their first run for an early 1-0 lead.
After being blanked for five consecutive innings, dating back to the fifth inning of the first game of the doubleheader, Auburn loaded the bases with no outs at the top of the fourth inning.
Ike Irish brought in Auburn’s first run with a no-out walk, and Carter Wright followed it up with a fielders choice to give Auburn a 2-1 lead.
Freeman walked the bases loaded for the second time in the inning, and Eric Guevara reached on another fielders choice. Still, an error prevented the possibility of the double play as Auburn finished the inning with a 3-1 lead.
The Bulldogs refused to go away after two more scoreless innings. Mississippi State was down to its final three outs due to the game being seven innings.
After six innings from Carson Myers, Auburn turned to Will Cannon to close the game and prevent the sweep.
Back-to-back singles to lead off the inning put the tying run on second base with no outs early for Cannon, and the blows kept coming as the Bulldogs tied the game with a two-RBI double from Ethan Kohler.
Parker Carlson relieved Cannon before he was able to manage an out and sent the game to extra innings.
Auburn failed to respond at the top of the eighth inning, and Christian Herberholzn relieved Carlson.
With two outs and a runner on second, Connor Husjack singled to left field to walk off the Tigers and sweep Auburn in a 4-3 come-from-behind victory.
“We have, time-and-time again in these games, gotten exactly where we wanted to with our personnel, so we’ll keep trying some different stuff,” said Auburn head coach Butch Thompson. “Offensively, we’re in a tough spot with Bobby (Peirce) and some of these guys. That’s been tough, but I thought we were going to find a way to win a ballgame with only two hits there in the last because (Carson) Myers did an amazing job for us, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
The Tigers dropped their eighth consecutive SEC game and moved to 19-20 and 2-16 in conference play, the first time Auburn has been under .500 this season.
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Craig Noyes is a junior from Kensington, Maryland, majoring in journalism. He joined The Plainsman in January 2023.
Twitter: @craignoyes58
