No. 8 Auburn baseball was swept by No. 1 Texas over the weekend, suffering its second SEC series loss of the year – both coming by way of the sweep.
The Tigers fell 3-2 in a hard-fought opener on Thursday, dropped the series in an 8-3 loss on Friday and were run-ruled 14-2 on Saturday.
Here is a recap of the Tigers’ weekend:
Game one
No. 8 Auburn went toe-to-toe with No. 1 Texas in the series opener but ultimately fell short 3-2 on Thursday night at Disch-Falk Field, snapping a six-game winning streak.
“I thought the guys handled being on the road against the number one team in the country,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “Having a lead late is really important, and that’s why they’re number one. We’ve been in every ballgame. Every one of these have been tight. The backend of the bullpen for those guys is so good, I think that was the difference tonight."
Auburn took control of the lead in the early goings as Ike Irish smashed a two-run home run in the third inning, but Texas scored a run in the third, sixth and seventh innings – all runs in the game came with two outs.
Samuel Dutton displayed another strong effort on the mound for the Tigers, going 5.2 innings with six strikeouts and two hits in the start. He faced the minimum through the first two innings before the Longhorns scored on a wild pitch in the third to cut their deficit to one.
Dutton, again, faced the minimum through the fourth and fifth innings, but Texas tied the game with a double in the sixth inning. The Longhorns took the lead with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, and Auburn went down in order in the last two frames against Dylan Volantis to end the game.
Game two
No. 8 Auburn fell behind two on runs in the third frame and never seized control as it fell 8-3 to No. 1 Texas on Friday night at Disch-Falk Field.
Five of the Tigers’ six hits came from the bat of Irish and Bristol Carter. After Friday’s showing, Irish had accounted for all five of the Tigers' runs in the first two games.
“These guys are getting to the floor and putting us away,” Thompson said. “It’s just a strike zone thing for me. Last weekend, we got out of each of those innings. Tonight, they get two, and two, and two. They don’t have the big inning, but every time they had a guy sitting at second base, they got just enough to get through. Just one or two of those moments with two outs, it could’ve been a different ballgame tonight.”
Auburn starter Cade Fisher cruised through the first two frames, facing the minimum in both, but the Longhorns took control in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs on three hits and a walk.
The Longhorns doubled their lead in the fourth to go up by four runs, but Auburn cut into their deficit with a two-run home run from Irish.
Texas added to its lead with two more runs on a two-RBI single in the sixth. Irish continued his scorching weekend in the seventh with his second homer of the game, third of the weekend and team-high 10th of the season. It marked Irish’s third multi-homer game of the year, all coming in the last five series.
The Longhorns extended their lead with two more runs on a two-RBI single in the sixth inning. Irish stayed hot in the seventh, launching his second home run of the game, third of the weekend, and a team-leading 10th of the season. It was his third multi-homer performance of the year, all within the last five series.
The Longhorns pushed away in the seventh with two runs on an RBI-single and error to end the night's scoring efforts.
Game three
No. 8 Auburn fell victim to the sweep by way of a 14-2 run-rule to No. 1 Texas on Saturday at Disch-Falk Field.
The Longhorns exploded for seven runs in the first two frames to break the game open en route to a 15-hit, four home run performance to hand the Tigers their second conference series sweep of the season.
Ike Irish, who accounted for all but one of the Tigers’ runs over the weekend, put Auburn on the board with a solo home run in the top half of the first, but Texas answered with a five-run home half with two home runs of its own in the frame.
Texas put up two runs apiece in the second and fifth frames, paced by a two-run double and a two-run single, respectively.
Bub Terrell scored on a wild pitch in the top of the seventh, but the Longhorns put the dagger in the Tigers with a five-run seventh, capped off by a three-run home run to end the game.
Andreas Alvarez got the start for the Tigers and took the loss in one inning of work, going for 35 pitches and giving up five hits and five runs. Ryan Hetzler was the only Tiger pitcher to work on the mound for more than one inning, going 3.1 innings and giving up four runs on six hits with three of the Tigers’ six strikeouts.
The Tigers will return to action on Tuesday as they host No. 14 Georgia Tech. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on SECN.
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