Alabama played a three-game set against its cross-state rival Auburn in Plainsman Park this past weekend, losing two out of three. The Crimson Tide now stands at 7-5 in conference play and has dropped from eighth to 12th in the rankings.-
Game 1: Auburn 10, Alabama 0 (F/7)
Auburn dominated Game 1 of the series, winning by mercy rule 10-0 in seven innings.
Alabama’s offense was completely shut down, with only two hits the whole game. Auburn’s Samuel Dutton pitched the whole game, striking out six batters and only allowing two walks.
Zane Adams had a rough start on the mound for the Crimson Tide. He only lasted one inning, allowing eight hits and 6 earned runs. The bullpen struggled, too, with Alabama changing pitchers four times in the next six innings.
Auburn got a hot start, scoring 4 in the first inning. The Tigers then made it 6-0 in the second, thanks to an RBI double and an outfield error.
Infielder Eric Snow drove in another run with the bases loaded in the fifth to make it 7 runs for Auburn. The next at-bat, Chris Rembert, batted in 2 runs to make it 9-0. The final run was scored by Bristol Carter, thanks to an RBI double from Chase Fralick.
Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn claimed it just wasn’t the Crimson Tide’s night.
“Credit Auburn for coming out of the chute swinging tonight. They outplayed us in all facets of the game today,” he said.
Game 2: Alabama 6, Auburn 5
Alabama was able to bounce back against their rivals, winning Game 2 by a score of 6-5.
The Tigers struck first in the second off Crimson Tide starter Riley Quick. A walk put a runner in scoring position, leading to Deric Fabian hitting a two-out RBI single to put Auburn up 1-0 early.
Alabama responded quickly, as outfielder and former Auburn transfer Kade Snell hit an RBI single in the top of the third inning, scoring catcher Brady Neal and evening up the score at 1.
Quick struggled with command in the bottom of the inning as a walk and a single led up to a wild pitch, netting Auburn a run. Once again, however, the Crimson Tide immediately responded, as outfielder Bryce Fowler singled home Garrett Staton in the top of the fourth, tying the game up at 2.
The back-and-forth settled down for a couple of innings but picked back up in the bottom of the sixth, as Fabian struck again for Auburn with an RBI single to go up 3-2.
Alabama nabbed its first lead in the top of the seventh, as infielders Justin Lebron and Will Hodo singled home runners to give the Crimson Tide a 4-3 advantage. The lead was short-lived, however, as Rembert led off the bottom of the inning with a solo home run to tie it up at 4.
Poor command from the mound plagued the Crimson Tide once again, as a wild pitch by pitcher Austin Morris in the bottom of the eighth netted home a Tigers baserunner to give them a 5-4 advantage.
But Alabama rallied to take back the lead. In the top of the ninth, outfielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. led off with a double, and then Lebron had the most significant swing of the game, hitting a 2-run homer to put the Crimson Tide up 6-5.
“Sometimes you need your best player to be your best player,” Vaughn said of Lebron. “He loves the moment. He’s not afraid of the moment.”
Closer Carson Ozmer locked it down in the bottom of the inning, and Alabama escaped with a nail-biter win.
“I will never fault the toughness and fight of this group,” Vaughn said. “They show up with that every day. A lot of maturity shown today.”
Game 3: Auburn 7, Alabama 5
The first two innings of the final game were all offense, with 9 runs scored between the two teams. Auburn got it going in the first with 3 RBI singles and a sac fly to make it 4-0. Alabama returned the favor in the second with a 3-run homer from Staton to make it 4-3. Auburn would get two more in the same inning to make it 6-3.
Auburn added another in the sixth, with a solo homer from Eric Guevara to make it 7-3. In the seventh, Alabama’s Jason Torres drove in the game’s final 2 runs with a single.
Vaughn was proud of the adversity that the team showed throughout Saturday’s games.
“The second game got off to a rough start, but we stayed in the fight and gave ourselves a chance late. We just didn’t have enough to finish,” Vaughn said. “Overall, we just have to get out of the gate better on both sides of the ball.”
It was another rough day on the mound for Alabama’s pitching staff. Starter Bobby Alcock only lasted 0.1 innings, giving up 4 ER and four hits. Braylon Myers, Aeden Finateri and Hagan Banks would all pitch from the bullpen, combining to give up eight hits and 3 ER and striking out eight batters.
