In front of a home series attendance record of 22,295 fans, No. 4 Auburn dropped its first regular-season series at Plainsman Park since 2024 to No. 2 Texas this weekend.
Auburn secured a 4-3 walk-off win in the series opener on Friday night, dropped a 7-6 affair on Saturday and was shut out in Sunday’s rubber match, 5-0.
Here is a recap of the Tigers’ weekend:
Game one
Facing a two-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth, Bristol Carter stepped into the box for his first plate appearance of the game and delivered a 3-run swing to help Auburn walk off the Longhorns in the series-opener on Friday night.
With the bases loaded after a leadoff double from Brandon McCraine, a walk and a Lucas Steele single, Carter barreled the first pitch he saw through the middle. Texas center fielder Aiden Robbins committed a crucial error as the ball skipped his glove and rolled to the warning track, allowing three Tigers to cross the plate for the win.
The Tigers improved to 19-2 for the fifth time in program history in front of a regular-season record crowd of 7,247.
Auburn ace Jake Marciano held Texas to one run on two hits with two walks and nine strikeouts in seven innings. It marked his fifth start this season of one run or less.
Auburn plated a run in the first eight pitches of the first as Chris Rembert and Chase Fralick collected back-to-back doubles.
Texas struck in the fourth on a solo blast from Robbins to tie the game at one apiece.
After getting out of a troublesome start in the fifth unscathed, Marciano retired eight straight batters before his night was over, marking his fourth quality start of the season.
Texas’ Robbins blasted his second homer of the contest to start the ninth before the Longhorns added another run on a fielder's choice later in the inning.
However, Auburn put its first three batters of the bottom of the ninth inning aboard to set up Carter’s winning swing.
Game two
In front of a record crowd of 8,037, Auburn’s comeback efforts fell just short in Saturday’s tilt, falling 7-6 to set up a crucial rubber match in game three.
Down by one run in the home half of the ninth, Auburn loaded the bases with three consecutive two-out walks, but Carter – who won game one in an eerily similar situation the night before – grounded out to third to end the game, snapping the Tigers’ 12-game winning streak.
Auburn trailed 7-2 in the seventh but scored three runs on a solo home run from Rembert and back-to-back RBI singles from Bub Terrell and Eric Guevara to cut the deficit to two.
In the eighth, the Tigers added one more on an RBI single from Fralick to cut the deficit to one.
Marcel Kulik, LJ Cormier and Ryan Hetzler combined to hold Texas to one run on four hits in the last six innings to allow for the comeback bid.
Auburn loaded the bases with no outs in the first on a Carter double, a walk and a hit batter. But a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to right field ended the frame.
With two outs, Auburn starter Jackson Sanders gave up a two-run single, putting Texas on the board.
A leadoff homer and a three-run shot in the third gave Texas a 6-0 lead in the early goings, and it added another crucial run in the sixth on an RBI double down the line in left.
The Tigers left a season-high 13 runners stranded and bases loaded twice – to start the game and end.
Game three
Auburn could not get the timely hits it needed against the Longhorns, dropping Sunday’s rubber match 5-0
After leaving a season-high 13 runners stranded in Saturday’s affair, the Tigers left 12 on base Sunday, recording just four hits to mark the second time this season they have been shutout.
Eddie Madrigal, Guevara, Terrell and Steele were the only Tigers to record a base knock.
The Tigers threatened with two on in the first and once more in the second frame with a pair of two-out walks, but could not cash in. Again, in the third, Auburn missed an opportunity after consecutive two-out singles from Guevara and Terrell, who marked the sixth stranded runner in through three innings.
Another missed opportunity came in the seventh as Auburn put two runners on, but an inning-ending groundout gave Auburn 10 runners left on base after eight.
Meanwhile, Texas jumped out to an early lead after a two-run blast in the second inning. It added two more in the fourth on a two-run single and an insurance run in the fifth, which came on a double play with no outs after loading the bases with a pair of walks and a single.
Eddie Madrigal returned from an offseason injury and doubled in his first plate appearance of the season to lead off the ninth. Tyler Belza walked to give Auburn two on with no outs, but a pair of strikeouts and a flyout ended it fittingly – with two Tigers left on base.
Auburn worked nine pitchers into the rotation, combining for nine strikeouts while giving up as many hits.
Auburn will travel to Riverwalk Stadium on Tuesday to take on South Alabama, with first pitch set for 6 p.m.
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