No. 8 Auburn traveled to College Station, Texas, for a pivotal SEC series against No. 7 Texas A&M this weekend, sweeping the doubleheader on Saturday, but falling short 4-3 on Sunday.
“We did what we needed to do,” Auburn second baseman Chris Rembert said. “We didn’t get the result we wanted in the last game, but it was a great weekend overall. Going into the ninth inning, we were full of confidence. It’s only going to prepare us. I’m really looking forward to the competition.”
The Tigers’ bats dominated the storyline in the first two games, but they fell silent through the first six innings in game three.
However, the Tigers’ offense came alive late, as they found themselves down one in the ninth with bases loaded, but a ground ball led to a double play to end the game.
“I was pleased with our pitchers the entire series,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “To hold this offense, arguably thinking it’s the best patience and power in the entire country to four runs today, they got the timely hit. We didn’t control the at-bats well. I’ll give their starting pitcher a lot of credit. Our guys just buckled down late and our at-bats were better in the last couple frames and scared them to death.”
Texas A&M starter Weston Moss was nothing short of dominant. He pitched 6 1/3 innings while allowing one hit, one run and recording six strikeouts.
The Tigers were hitless while trailing 4-0 going into the seventh inning. However, Auburn got on the board in the top of the seventh, as a leadoff double by Mason McCraine set up a two-out RBI single by Rembert to drive in the Tigers’ first run.
The Tigers got one last chance in the ninth, down 4-1. McCraine got the rally started again with a leadoff single followed by another single by Eric Guevara. Then, three straight one-out singles by Rembert, Ethin Bingaman and Bub Terrell made the score 4-3 with one out and bases loaded.
Brandon McCraine battled hard, fouling off multiple pitches with two strikes, but grounded into a double play to end the game.
The pitching staff performed well all weekend, especially on Sunday against the Aggies' strong lineup, which was led by a three-headed monster in Gavin Grahovac, Caden Sorrell and Chris Hacopian. Those three combined for four of the Aggies' six hits on Sunday.
Hacopian had all four RBIs for the Aggies, starting the day with an RBI groundout that scored Grahovac after he doubled to start the game in the bottom of the first. In the sixth, Hacopian hit a three-run bomb to extend the lead to 4-0.
Alex Petrovic was on the mound for the Tigers, where he finished with 5 1/3 innings pitched, allowing five hits, four runs and posting six strikeouts. LJ Cormier and Ryan Hetzler finished the game, only allowing three base runners and no runs in their innings.
“The standard and effort have to be the same every day,” Thompson said. “You keep your head down. The mission is the same. We’ve got two more weeks with our heads down. This is the best training in the world where it feels like we’re playing five super regionals in a row.”
The Tigers have two more top-ranked SEC series remaining and are looking to finish in the top four of the conference, which would mean a coveted double bye in the SEC tournament. Auburn currently sits at 14-10 in SEC play and is tied for fourth with Mississippi State. Auburn travels to Dudy Noble Field to face the Bulldogs next weekend.
Before that series, the Tigers travel to Birmingham, Alabama, to face UAB on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. CDT.
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