AUBURN, Ala. – No. 11 Auburn made things interesting after falling behind by nine runs early in the game but ultimately lost to Mississippi State, 12-7, Saturday night at Plainsman Park.
After trailing 10-1 through four innings, Auburn hit four solo home runs in the fifth through seventh innings and sent the tying run to the plate with one out in the eighth. However, Mississippi State preserved its four-run lead with an inning-ending double play and ultimately evened the series.
“It seemed like the eighth was our one chance after being so far behind,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “We hit the solo home runs, but we finally got some baserunners with the two balls that fell. We wound up having a good at-bat to load the bases. That was our shot. The double play was our biggest threat. If we were going to make that possible, I thought that was the at-bat of the game to try to come back.”
Chase Fralick’s solo home run to lead off the fifth inning got Auburn’s offense going. Eric Guevera followed suit with a solo home run over the War Eagle Wall in the sixth, and Deric Fabian and Chris Rembert both hit solo home runs to continue to chip away in the seventh.
“That’s kind of the expectation with our team is to never quit,” Fralick said. “We just kept chipping away at that game. We knew we had a chance if our bats woke up a little bit. We got ourselves within striking distance, we just didn’t have it tonight.”
Trailing 11-5 in the eighth, the Tigers continued to make things interesting with a two-run single back up the middle from Lucas Steele, scoring Ike Irish and Cooper McMurray, who singled to start the inning. They proceeded to reload the bases with one out on a pair of walks, but the aforementioned double play ended the inning without further damage.
“Step one for us tomorrow is figuring some things out before we step back on the field to have a chance to win a series,” Thompson added. “Step two is to name a starting pitcher, and step three is to come out.”
Mississippi State (25-18, 7-13 SEC) wasted no time getting on the scoreboard with a pair of two-run homers off Cade Fisher in the first.
John Armstrong entered in relief of Fisher to start the second inning and held the Bulldogs scoreless in a pair of frames.
Auburn (29-14, 10-10 SEC) got on the scoreboard with a two-out RBI double from Bub Terrell in the third, but a pair of runners were stranded in scoring position.
Mississippi State answered Auburn’s run by sending 11 to the plate and scoring six more runs on six hits and two walks to extend its lead to 10-1 in the fourth.
Fralick launched his fourth home run of the season on top of the hitting facility in right field to start the fifth inning, and Guevara hit a two-out solo homer in the sixth to cut the deficit to 10-3.
Abe Chancellor made his SEC debut in the top of the fifth inning and turned in a pair of scoreless innings. The Tigers turned a double play to strand a runner on third in the fifth inning and the junior lefty retired Mississippi State in order in the sixth.
Chancellor allowed a pair of baserunners on a walk and hit batter in the seventh, but Jackson Sanders picked him up with a double play on the first pitch he offered to get out of the inning.
After Mississippi State starter Evan Siary turned in a season-high 6.0 innings, Fabian greeted reliever Stone Simmons with a solo homer of his own on the second pitch offered by Simmons, and Rembert followed three batters later with the fourth solo homer in the last three frames.
Sanders retired the first two batters in the eighth inning, but the Bulldogs added a two-out solo homer to make it an 11-5 game.
The Tigers scored the two runs on Steele’s single to make a four-run game, but the eighth inning ended with the tying run grounding into a double play.
Mississippi State capped off the scoring in the game after a one-out error in the ninth.
The series finale between the Tigers and Bulldogs is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.