Auburn loses the series with the Rebels on Saturday

Tigers drop the rubber match of the series with Ole Miss on Saturday.

On Saturday, Auburn was defeated by a score of 15-2. The Rebels’ bats proved to be too much in the rubber match. In the top of the third inning, the Rebels plated three runs on two hits from Tim Elko and TJ McCants. In the bottom of the third inning, Auburn would score one run off of a single by Ryan Dyal that plated Kason Howell. The two sides would remain scoreless until the top of the fifth inning.

In the top of the fifth, Hunter Sapp doubled to score two runs. Following Sapp’s double, Elko hit a two-run homer. It set the Rebels up with a safe lead of 7-1. The following inning the Rebels scored four more runs to make it 11-1. Auburn would get an RBI single from Howell, but that was the last run that the Tigers would score on Saturday evening. In the eighth and ninth, Ole Miss scored three runs to end the game.

The Tigers pitching was abysmal, to say the least. Starter Trace Bright grabbed the loss on Saturday. He pitched 4.1 innings while giving up a total of six runs on five hits. His pitching efforts were followed by a combination of Blake Burkhalter, Tommy Sheehan, and Jordan Armstrong. The three gave up nine runs. Although the pitching was ineffective for the Tigers, it wasn’t for the Rebels. Pitcher Jack Doughtery picked up the win for the Rebels. He pitched a total of five innings while allowing seven hits, but added seven strikeouts.

The Tigers will drop to 14-6 and 1-2 in conference play, while the Rebels improve to 15-4 and 2-1 in conference play. Ole Miss will return to the diamond on Tuesday where they will play Memphis in a home-and-home. As for Auburn, they will return to action on Tuesday against South Alabama at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama. They will look to get back to their winning ways before entering the weekend series on the road against Texas A&M.