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May 25, 2017
Hoover, Ala.--The Auburn baseball team overcame a four-run deficit to tie the game in the seventh inning but came up short in a 5-4 loss to top-seed Florida in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament at the Hoover Met Wednesday. Florida improved to 41-15, while Auburn fell to 35-23.
The Tigers will face either Arkansas or Mississippi State on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. CT in an elimination game. The Razorbacks and Bulldogs play Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m. in the winner's bracket.
"They battled their heart out. I love it," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. "We got down two nights in a row and continued to battle back. We tied the game. We tried to extend both of our pitchers and it bit me twice, I thought. We had the open base there three multiple times with Cole (Lipscomb) and couldn't get it, but Calvin Coker came in and did a tremendous job. We probably just ran out of gas with both guys a little bit."
Florida broke a 4-4 tie in the eighth on a bases loaded walk by Auburn reliever Elliott Anderson scoring JJ Schwarz. Schwarz's one-out single off Coker was followed by a Nick Horvath walk and a Jonathan India single to load the bases.
Auburn's big four-run seventh inning was highlighted by Conor Davis' two-out, two-run double. Blake Logan started the rally with a leadoff single followed by a Bowen McGuffin walk. Jonah Todd reached on a throwing error two batters later scoring Logan from third. Dylan Ingram walked setting up Davis' two-base hit to right field. Ingram scored when Tyler Dyson, the fourth Gator pitcher of the inning, threw a wild pitch on his second offering after entering the game.
Cooker (3-3) took the loss for Auburn after allowing one run on four hits with two walks and a career-high six strikeouts. Lipscomb allowed four runs, three earned on five hits in 3 2/3 innings of work.
Tyler Dyson (2-0) picked up the win for the Gators after throwing 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. Florida starter Alex Faedo allowed two run, one earned on six hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Todd paced Auburn's offense with three hits, while Daniel Robert added a pair of singles.
The Gators plated three two-out runs off Auburn starter Cole Lipscomb in the fourth inning on three consecutive hits to take a 4-0 lead. India and Mark Kolozsvary each had RBI singles, while Christian Hicks had a run scoring double.
Florida scored an unearned run in the third inning on Deacon Liput's RBI single scoring Mike Rivera from second base. Rivera reached on a one-out fielding error by Tigers' second basemen Jay Estes.