HOOVER – No. 6 seed Auburn baseball dropped its SEC Tournament opener on Thursday, falling 3-2 in the second round to No. 14 seed Texas A&M at the Hoover Met.
“Just wished that in a couple of moments we could have knocked in a few more runs there. Had some chances today, but it didn't happen,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said.
Despite Carson Myers’ outstanding performance in relief, in which he tossed four scoreless innings while allowing just one hit, the Tigers couldn’t overcome a three-run shot off the bat of Texas A&M’s Kaeden Kent in the third inning.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Lucas Steele launched a solo-shot to cut the deficit to one, but the next two Tigers were retired, ending their hopes at a comeback bid.
Coming into the tournament, Auburn’s offense had scored 91 runs on 101 hits while hitting .388 in the last seven games. But the bats went quiet on Thursday as the Tigers only managed six base knocks with a .200 team batting average.
“I think collectively, I think our offense has played good of late. We've been competitive. I think we're fine there. I just think A&M is a really good ballclub, and I think that it just didn't happen for us today. We just did not link it up. But some point in time, you have to give credit to the other team,” Thompson said.
Cam Tilly got the nod for the Tigers on the bump and retired six of the first seven batters he faced through the first two frames. A shaky third inning for Tilly proved costly as he surrendered a three-run blast to give the Aggies all the offense they needed.
Eric Snow put Auburn on the board with a solo-shot over the wall in left to lead off the fifth.
The Tigers threatened in the eighth, but missed out on a golden opportunity. Ike Irish stepped in the box with one out and runners on first and second, but grounded into a fielder's choice that ended the inning after an interference call on the slide at second.
“It was the slide rule for safety, and once they reviewed it, it was absolutely – you have to slide straight into the base, and we did not, ” Thompson said.
Cade Fisher worked the last two frames for Auburn on the mound and continued to hold the Aggies scoreless with just one hit given up and three strikeouts.
Auburn will now await its seeding for regional play with the top 16 seeds set to be announced on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. The full NCAA Selection Show will air at 11 a.m. CT on Monday on ESPN2.
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