Auburn’s offensive struggles continued Sunday afternoon, as the No. 5 Tigers fell to rival Alabama 3-1, completing a sweep for the Crimson Tide.
After winning their first four games of SEC play, the Tigers have seen their momentum come to a standstill, having dropped their last five conference matchups.
The team’s offensive woes have been the leading cause of this rough stretch. In the past week, Auburn’s offense has completely disintegrated, having only put up four runs in their last four games combined. Heading back home for a series against the Arkansas Razorbacks next weekend, Auburn will be hoping to turn the tide and bring its offense back to life.
As they did in their previous two matchups against the Crimson Tide this weekend, Auburn struck first, scoring a run in the top of the first inning off an RBI single from third baseman Eric Guevara.From that point on, Alabama’s pitchers only allowed one more hit to the Tigers in their final 8 2/3 innings of work. Despite plating runners in every inning but the fourth, Auburn was unable to come through with timely hitting to provide its pitchers with any run support.
Auburn starter Alex Petrovic did his best to keep a struggling Tiger squad in the game. After getting chased out of his last start against Texas in just 3 2/3 innings, the sophomore from Cypress, Texas, bounced back, tossing five innings while giving up only one run on three hits and striking out six Alabama batters.
Freshman LJ Cormier took the ball from Petrovic at the bottom of the sixth and kept the Crimson Tide’s hitters at bay. Cormier, a native of Tuscaloosa, threw two no-hit innings for the Tigers, allowing only one baserunner on a hit by pitch.
Alabama broke the scoring drought in the bottom of the eighth, taking advantage of control issues from Auburn’s pitching. After back-to-back wild pitches allowed Alabama star shortstop Justin Lebron to score the go-ahead run, the Tide put runners on first and second thanks to their third walk of the inning. Alabama DH Will Plattner plated a two-out insurance run on a single to center field, giving the Tide a comfortable lead heading into the top of the ninth.
With Auburn in need of two runs to keep the game alive, Alabama would bring in reliever Hagan Banks to close the game out. Banks would deliver, putting up a 1-2-3 inning in which he recorded two strikeouts and a flyout, securing a series sweep.
Auburn will have one day off before heading to Atlanta to face off against No. 3 Georgia Tech in a midweek matchup. The Tigers will be hoping to mirror their performance against the Yellow Jackets two weeks ago, in which they exploded for nine runs in a seven-run victory.
First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CDT Tuesday night.
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Jonathan is a freshman majoring in industrial and systems engineering. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2025.
