Despite having another prime opportunity to walk off its second straight game against No. 2 Texas, No. 5 Auburn baseball was unable to mount a late-game comeback, losing game two of the series 7-6.
This loss ends a 12-game winning streak and is also the first time Auburn’s pitching staff has allowed five or more runs in a game in nearly a month.
With the series now tied 1-1 and the Tigers suffering their first SEC loss of the season, Sunday's game becomes more important as Auburn hopes to secure a series against a top-tier opponent.
The most glaring takeaway from the game-two loss came in the form of missed opportunities, as Auburn had runners in scoring position in several innings, but it failed to capitalize. The Tigers left 13 runners on base, and they finished 0-for-5 at the plate with the bases loaded — including in the bottom of the ninth.
Even with the loss, the Tigers will still have positives to look back on from Saturday night's game. Auburn came back from a daunting early deficit after Texas put up six runs in the first three innings.
“We have a couple of inside-the-circle benchmarks that they met, so I was pretty positive there at the end of the game with the guys,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said after the game. “You have to take the feelings out of it. Spotting those guys six runs is a tall order. We had enough spirit and enough fight to make them open up their bullpen to get into the game."
"Does that help tomorrow to help win a series or not? That will be decided tomorrow, but there were still some benchmarks that were met,” Thompson added.
Down 6-0 in the bottom of the fourth, the Tigers put up two runs on back-to-back RBI groundouts from brothers Mason McCraine and Brandon McCraine, helping wake up a record crowd of 8,037 at Plainsman Park.
Freshman pitcher LJ Cormier came in relief for the Tigers in the third inning after a rare off-night from Tigers starter Jackson Sanders. Cormier did a strong job calming down a red-hot Longhorns lineup, tossing 2.2 innings while giving up one run on a sixth-inning double from Texas catcher Carson Tinney.
Sophomore Marcel Kulik relieved Cormier with two outs in the sixth inning and provided the Tigers with a clutch performance. The Virginia Tech transfer hurled 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out four batters.
In the fourth inning, thanks to a momentum-swinging home run over the left-field wall from second baseman Chris Rembert and a clutch nine-pitch at-bat resulting in a walk from catcher Chase Fralick, Auburn recorded three straight two-out hits to cut the deficit to two runs.
After a scoreless top of the eighth inning from junior Ryan Hetzler, Auburn pinch-hitter Lucas Steele led off the bottom of the inning with a hit by pitch. Auburn recorded two outs in the inning before going on another rally. Rembert squeaked a base hit past Longhorns third baseman Temo Becerra before Fralick roped a 99 mph fastball from Texas pitcher Thomas Burns into left field, driving in Steele and making it a one-run game.
Auburn headed into the bottom of the ninth, needing one run to cap off a six-run comeback. Burns recorded two strikeouts in a row before experiencing some control issues.
Auburn had three straight batters walk, loading the bases for center fielder Bristol Carter, the hero of Friday night's matchup, looking to record a walk-off hit for the second straight night. Unfortunately, luck was not on the Tigers' side this time, as Carter smoked a ground ball down the third-base line that was snagged by Becerra, leading to a game-ending fielder's choice.
“We’ve worked on the spirit so much, and Coach Thompson has done such a great job with us,” Kulik said. “Obviously, we had a record attendance today. We have all of our fans supporting us. Just all of us coming together and uniting against a team like that is all we need. We have the momentum and have to bring it into tomorrow.”
The Tigers and Longhorns will face off on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. CST with the series on the line.
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Jonathan is a freshman majoring in industrial and systems engineering. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2025.
