May 24, 2018
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HOOVER, Ala. -- No. 7 seed Auburn put the tying run on base in the top of the ninth but ultimately fell short in a 4-2 loss to No. 11 seed Texas A&M Thursday night at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
Trailing 3-0 in the eighth inning, Auburn (39-20, 15-15 SEC) got on the scoreboard on a RBI double from Conor Davis in the top of the frame, but Texas A&M (39-19, 13-17 SEC) answered with an insurance run in the home half to push the lead back to three.
In its next at-bat, Brett Wright drew a one-out hit-by-pitch and Judd Ward dropped down a bunt single to bring Edouard Julien, who hit a walk-off single Tuesday and grand slam Wednesday, to the plate as the game-tying run. Julien was retired, though, and Jay Estes drove in a run on his second infield single of the night, but a ground ball to short ended the game.
"We were resilient, just a little bit too late," head coach Butch Thompson said. "Yesterday it worked out. We got to the `pen and scored some runs after six shutout innings. Tonight, it was a little bit deeper. I just told the guys I thought we ran out of innings."
Casey Mize (9-5, 3.07) suffered the loss after throwing 7.2 innings and allowing four runs on eight hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. Opposite Mize, John Doxakis (7-5, 2.89) earned the win as he pitched 7.1 innings and allowed one run on two hits.
Davis nearly gave Auburn a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning as he lifted a pitch high and deep to right field. However, Allonte Wingate got back to the wall and leaped up to bring a solo home run back.
A half inning later, the Aggies were the first to get on the scoreboard as a wild pitch advanced George Yanca into scoring position before Zach Deloach delivered with a two-out RBI single.
After going without a baserunner for the first four innings, Brendan Venter drew a hit-by-pitch in the top of the fifth but was erased on a fielder's choice. Estes then stole his team-best 12th base of the year to move into scoring position with two outs but was stranded on one of 10 strikeouts by Doxakis.
Texas AA&M executed a hit-and-run to put runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the sixth, and Braden Shewmake extended the Aggies' lead to 3-0 with a two-RBI double down the right-field line.
Estes broke up Doxakis' no-hitter with an infield single to lead off the eighth. After stealing his second base of the game and 13th of the season, he came in to score on the aforementioned RBI double from Davis to dead center field that ran the Texas AA&M left-hander from the game. However, right-hander Nolan Hoffman entered in relief of Doxakis and escaped the inning without further damage before ultimately earning his 14th save.
Estes collected two hits for the third straight game in the tournament and has two or more hits in 14 of the last 22 games. He is hitting .418 during the span.
For the second time in three days, Auburn will face No. 2 seed Ole Miss (43-15, 18-12 SEC) in an elimination game at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium at 3 p.m. CT. The winner of that game will advance to the semifinals to take on Texas AA&M Saturday at noon.