Auburn baseball is entering crunch time as the end of the regular season draws near, trying to find answers to its struggles and make a run towards qualifying for the SEC Tournament in Hoover.
Unfortunately, those deficits were not able to be overcome, as the Tigers dropped both halves of a doubleheader with Mississippi State on Sunday, losing 3-1 and 4-3.
The first of the two contests was a pitcher’s duel until about the 4th inning. That is when the scoreless tie was broken and things got going.
Connor Hujsak led the inning off with a single into left field and advanced to second later in the inning with a Logan Kohler walk.
That set up Ethan Pulliam to single through the left side of the field, scoring Hujsak and putting the Bulldogs on the board.
After a strikeout recorded the second out, Armani Larry stepped up to the plate and also singled through the left side of the field, plating Kohler after an eventual error was made. Mississippi State had the 2-0 advantage.
Auburn attempted to answer back in the top of the 5th, as [autotag]Kaleb Freeman[/autotag] started the inning off with a solo home run over the right field wall, cutting the score to 2-1.
The final bit of scoring came in the bottom of the 6th with some two-out magic from the Bulldogs. After a David Mershon walk and a Dakota Jordan single, Hunter Hines singled through the right side to bring home the third Mississippi State run and eventually secure the win, 3-1.
The second of the two matches was filled with late drama, but early scoring.
With one runner on and two outs in the bottom of the 2nd inning, Kohler singled through the left side to score the first run of the game for the Bulldogs, putting them up 1-0.
Things started looking up for the Tigers in the top of the 4th. [autotag]Christian Hall[/autotag] began the frame with a single through the left side. [autotag]Cooper McMurray[/autotag] and [autotag]Cade Belyeu[/autotag] followed that up with back-to-back walks, loading the bases with no outs.
[autotag]Ike Irish[/autotag] drew a walk right after this to score Auburn’s first run, which then set up [autotag]Carter Wright[/autotag] to hit into a fielder’s choice and put the Tigers in the lead at 2-1.
After a Freeman walk eventually loaded the bases up again later in the inning, [autotag]Eric Guevara[/autotag] reached on a fielder’s choice to second base, scoring Belyeu and making the score 3-1.
Nobody scored again until the 7th, which is when the Tigers’ pitching woes started to show up once again.
After two singles began Mississippi State’s final chance to tie the game back up, Kohler came in clutch once again, doubling to right center and clearing the bases. The Bulldogs had suddenly come back and tied the game up 3-3.
That sent the game into extra innings, and Auburn could not capitalize in the top of the 8th.
With runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom half of the inning, Hujsak singled into left field, scoring in the game-winning run and securing the sweep for Mississippi State.
[autotag]Tanner Bauman[/autotag] picked up the loss in game one, dropping to 2-2 on the year. He pitched for 3.1 innings, giving up two runs on six hits, while striking out two and walking one.
[autotag]Christian Herberholz[/autotag] got the loss in the second game after his appearance in the 8th. He pitched 0.2 innings, giving up the one run on two hits while intentionally walking one.
Jurrangelo Cijntje picked up the first win for the Bulldogs with his 6.2 innings of work. He gave up one run on three hits, while striking out five and walking three.
Tyson Hardin got the win in game two, pitching two full innings. His phenomenal outing saw him give up no runs and no hits, while striking out five Tiger hitters.
Auburn now falls to 19-20 on the season and 2-16 in the SEC. Time is officially running out for [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag]’s team as they prepare to do battle with Florida A&M on Tuesday. First pitch for that game is set for 3 p.m. CST at Plainsman Park.
