STARKVILLE, Miss. – No. 17 Auburn fell in dramatic fashion in the series opener at Mississippi State, falling to the Bulldogs, 7-6, Tuesday night at Dudy Noble Field.
Leading 6-5 heading to the bottom of the ninth, Mississippi State plated a pair of runs on a wild pitch and bases-loaded walk to end the game.
"We've played this game over and over and have found a way, just not tonight," head coach Butch Thompson said. "It wasn't totally clean, but we hung in there.
"If we had to do it all over again, there's not a lot I'd like to change," Thompson added.
Auburn (23-11, 7-6 SEC) took a 5-3 lead with three runs in the sixth, but Mississippi State (20-15, 5-8 SEC) tied the game with a pair of solo homers in the seventh.
The Tigers again took a lead on a solo homer from Cole Foster in the eighth, but the Bulldogs were able to take advantage of Auburn's miscues in the ninth inning to claim the win.
"It's the first game of the series, and we have to find a way to win a ballgame tomorrow," Thompson said.
Mississippi State struck first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. The first four batters reached on two walks and two singles to score the first run. However, starting pitcher Hayden Mullins did a good job to minimize the damage to two, retiring the next six batters he faced with three strikeouts during the span.
Auburn got on the scoreboard on a one-out solo homer from Nate LaRue in the third. The long ball was LaRue's third of the season, leaving the yard at 106 miles per hour off the bat and traveling 423 feet.
Mississippi State got the run back after back-to-back walks started the third. The Tigers got a double play to erase one of the lead runners, but a two-out single back up the middle made it a 3-1 game through three.
Auburn threatened with two on and one out in the third, but back-to-back groundouts ended the threat. However, the Tigers cashed in on a leadoff double from Foster in the fifth and cut the deficit to one.
Carson Skipper in relief of Mullins to start the fifth and worked a 1-2-3 frame with three groundouts.
The Tigers took the momentum from the mound to the plate, capitalizing on a one-out error to tie the game on a bases loaded walk before taking the lead on a two-strike, two-out single from Blake Rambusch.
After Skipper had retired the first six batters he faced, the Bulldogs cut the lead to one on a solo homer to start the bottom of the seventh and tied it on another solo shot two batters later. Mississippi State had been held to two hits since the first inning.
Auburn answered right back with Foster's aforementioned solo homer in the eighth, and Blake Burkhalter retired the Bulldogs in order with a pair of strikeouts in the home half.
After the Tigers left a pair stranded in the top of the ninth, Mississippi State started the bottom of the frame with a walk. Burkhalter got a potential double play ball, but a mishandling of the ground ball allowed both baserunner to be safe. A sacrifice bunt moved both into scoring position, and an intentional walk loaded the bases before the tying run scored on a wild pitch. Another intentional walk re-loaded the bases, and a walk ended the game.
Game two between the Tigers and Bulldogs is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
No. 17 Auburn falls in opener at Mississippi State
