AUBURN – Christian Herberholz's solid night on the mound gave Auburn the opportunity to get out in front, but they were held back by a stagnant night at the plate.
The Auburn Tigers fell 3-2 at the hands of the Alabama State Hornets on Tuesday night at Plainsman Park, marking the Tigers' first midweek loss of the season.
"It felt like offensively we were getting to them (late), but too much length out of the starter, too much length out of the first reliever. I think it helped them get to the finish line,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “The bats were not competitive enough, for sure, but it was an accumulation of a lot of different things.”
Herberholz tossed five scoreless innings in which he allowed three hits and struck four batters out without walking any.
Gavin Miller scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the fourth inning, allowing Auburn to grab its only lead of the night. Alabama State scored a run in the top of the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to take a two-run lead into the final frame.
A sacrifice fly hit by Chris Stanfield in the bottom of the ninth allowed Cade Belyeu to score and bring Auburn within one, but the Tigers could not complete the comeback.
Auburn is now 18-14 on the season and 2-10 in SEC play.
The Tigers host the No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats this weekend for a Thursday-Sunday series. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. CT for game one on ESPNU, 6 p.m. CT for game two on SEC Network+ and 2 p.m. CT for game three on SEC Network+. The Auburn Sports Network broadcast for each game can be heard locally on Wings 94.3 FM or streamed anywhere on the Auburn Athletics app.
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