AUBURN, Ala. – No. 5 Auburn dropped its first contest of the season with an 8-0 loss to Cincinnati Tuesday night at Plainsman Park.
The Tigers (3-1) trailed just 2-0 heading into the eighth inning, but the Bearcats (3-1) scored six runs in their last two at-bats to secure the win.
“It just looked like with runners in scoring position, especially at third, we had a couple of those early, heavy swings or punchouts,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “We got in bad advantage counts and have been underwater three of the first four games here, not being able to put many at-bats together.”
Cincinnati struck first on a double, stolen base and run on a passed ball in the first inning.
Auburn responded by loading the bases with one out on a double from Bub Terrell, hit batter and walk in the home half. However, the Tigers left them loaded on a strikeout and groundout to end the inning.
The Bearcats added another run in the second on a sacrifice fly after the first two batters reached on a single and a double.
Auburn moved a runner to third with one out in each of the first three innings but failed to push a run across with a strikeout accounting for the second out in each inning.
Navigating multiple baserunners in three of his four innings pitched, Andreas Alvarez struck out eight batters in his first start of the season, one shy of a career high.
Christian Chatterton relieved Alvarez to start the fifth and held Cincinnati scoreless in his first 3.0 innings of relief, but Cincinnati ultimately doubled its lead with two runs in the eighth. The Bearcats loaded the bases on a double and two singles before making it a 4-0 game on a RBI single and groundout.
Cincinnati picked up in the ninth where it left off in the eighth, ultimately batting around and adding four runs on four hits to end the game 8-0.
Terrell led the offense with two doubles, while Chase Fralick matched him with two hits.
The Tigers hit the road for the first time this season for the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series in Arlington, Texas, Friday-Sunday.