Despite currently being on one of its hottest streaks of the season going into Tuesday, having taken six straight SEC series, No. 5 Auburn baseball was unable to secure a victory in its final midweek matchup of the season, falling to Jacksonville State for the second time this season, 4-1.
With all non-conference and midweek games completed in the regular season, the Tigers now have just one SEC series left on the schedule, a matchup against No. 4 Georgia this weekend before postseason play begins. With Tuesday’s loss, Auburn finished the regular season with a 19-5 non-conference record.
After a 13-run outburst last Saturday night to secure a series win against No. 13 Mississippi State, Auburn’s offense was held to a single run for just the fourth time all season. Even with both teams tied with six hits each, the Tigers struggled to make use of their baserunners throughout the game.
Auburn had to wait seven innings before seeing its lone run come across on an infield single from shortstop Brandon McCraine. The Tigers will be hoping to bounce back offensively in their matchup against the Bulldogs this weekend to cap off SEC play.
In what was a bullpen game for the Tigers’ pitching staff, the team did a good job of keeping the offense in the game, allowing just four runs in total. After getting the start, junior Griffin Graves tossed 3.1 innings to begin the game, giving up four runs, three of which came in the third inning.
The bullpen from there was exceptional, as the trio of senior Abe Chancellor, sophomore Marcel Kulik and junior Garrett Brewer combined to throw 4.2 innings, striking out nine batters while walking just four.
Auburn saw solid individual batting performances Tuesday, such as Chris Rembert’s two-hit game, but the hits did not come when they were needed most.
The Tigers left five runners in scoring position, wasting great opportunities to cut the deficit. Auburn will be hoping this is an outlier in what has been a great stretch of offensive matchups instead of a sign of things to come for the squad.
While this loss was not as large of a blowout compared to the Tigers’ first matchup against the Gamecocks, it still likely hurts due to the opportunities Auburn had to tie or cut the lead.
Auburn will now have just a singular day break before beginning its final SEC series of the season against Georgia starting Thursday.
The Bulldogs have been on an absolute tear, winning nine straight games to improve to 41-11 overall with a 21-6 conference record. For the Tigers to keep their conference series win streak alive, the team will need to be firing on all cylinders against the tough opponent.
First pitch between Auburn and Georgia on Thursday night is set for 7 p.m. CDT at Plainsman Park.
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Jonathan is a freshman majoring in industrial and systems engineering. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2025.
