April 3, 2016
By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬- Auburn has the hitting part down. The Tigers, with the second-best hitting team in the Southeastern Conference, scored 19 runs in three games against LSU over the weekend.
It wasn't enough.
Joshua Palacios hit a homer and Anfernee Grier had three hits, but LSU beat the Tigers 10-5 Sunday in Plainsman Park in winning the series two games to one. LSU scored 23 runs in the series, leaving coach Butch Thompson, whose first look at his new team came in January, talking about the late start.
"I wish we had done some things with these guys and helped them out with a pitch, with an arm slot, a little bit of something. We may be to the point where we have to do that," Thompson said.
"We feel like we have to score to win. That goes back to be a little short on the pitching side, and that's just finding a little something with our guys."
Thompson said starter Andrew Mitchell was good enough early.
"When he came out of the ballgame, it was 3-3. You would have taken that," Thompson said.
LSU took a 6-3 lead in the fifth. Auburn cut it to 6-5 in the sixth, but left the bases loaded. LSU scored three more in the seventh and one in the eighth.
"I think our kids are still battling hard," Thompson said. "Our staff, we've been here five months now, and we've got to do a better job. I have to do a better job of putting our guys in better position to have a chance to win an SEC series."
LSU improved to 18-9 overall and 4-5 in the SEC. Auburn fell to 13-15 overall and 2-7 in the league.
Blake Logan had two hits and finished the weekend going 6-for-10 with six RBIs. Palacios hit two homers.
Mitchell fell to 4-1. John Valek III improved to 5-1.
Auburn plays Georgia State at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Plainsman Park.
Charles Goldberg is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @AUGoldMine