COLLEGE STATION, Texas – No. 21 Auburn responded from three-run deficits on a pair of occasions but ultimately dropped the series opener at No. 4 Texas A&M 9-7 Thursday night at Blue Bell Park.
After jumping out to an early lead, Texas A&M answered each of Auburn's three-run, game-tying innings in the fourth and sixth frames with three runs of its own.
"Those shutdown innings in the fourth and the sixth when we worked so hard to score the three runs and they got them right back," head coach Butch Thompson said of the difference in the ballgame. "The fifth run, the sixth run, the seventh run, the eighth run, the ninth runs were all either a walk or hit-by-pitch."
Ike Irish led the way from the plate, going 3-for-4 with three runs and a home run. He extended his career-best hitting streak to 12 games and homered for the third straight contest. Chris Stanfield added a pair of hits for the third straight game, and Mason Maners matched Irish with a homer for the third straight contest.
"Up and down the lineup we had some good at-bats and battled," Thompson added. "We didn't make an error tonight on the road."
Dylan Watts pitched the final 2.2 innings, marking a season-high, and allowed just one baserunner while striking out three.
"He came in and he drove the baseball, and I thought it was his best moment so far at Auburn," Thompson said of Watts. "He's absolutely grown leaps and bounds."
Trailing 3-0 in the top of the fourth, Irish extended his hitting streak with an infield single to start the frame. After a two-out double from Stanfield, Maners hit a three-run home run to tie the game. The long ball was Maners' sixth of the season.
However, Texas A&M (23-3, 4-3 SEC) answered with three runs of its town in the home half. The Aggies reclaimed the lead with a solo homer to start the frame, and back-to-back walks ended starter Conner McBride's night. Both runners came in to score on back-to-back one-out singles.
Parker Carlson held Texas A&M scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, and Auburn (16-9, 1-6 SEC) loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the sixth. The Tigers took advantage of a pair of errant throws and scored three unearned runs on ground balls from Stanfield and Carter Wright to tie the game, 6-6.
The Aggies answered again with three runs on three walks, two hit batters and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to reclaim a three-run lead.
Irish hit a solo homer with two outs in the top of the seventh to cut the deficit to two. The homer, which traveled 428 feet to right, was Irish's ninth of the season. The sophomore backstop has now driven in a run in 21 of 25 games this year.
After Auburn retired just one of the first six batters in the sixth inning, Watts entered in relief and retired eight of the nine batters he faced to give the Tigers a chance at their third comeback of the game.
However, Aggie reliever Evan Aschenbeck set down Auburn in order in the ninth and pitched the final 4.0 innings with five strikeouts.
Game two between the Tigers and Aggies is schedule for Friday at 6 p.m. CT at Blue Bell Park.
No. 21 Auburn overcomes three-run deficits but falls short at No. 4 Texas A&M
