Tigers drop series

AUBURN | It was another tough night at the plate as Auburn slipped closer to being eliminated from postseason play.

Ole Miss scored a run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth to beat the Tigers 5-4 Saturday night at Plainsman Park.

Auburn falls to 21-24 overall and 3-20 in the SEC. AU would have to win its remaining seven SEC games and have either Ole Miss or LSU lost out to earn the 12th and final seed in the SEC Tournament.

“I think we finished with four hits and I think we both had five walks,” said AU coach Butch Thompson. “They had six hits. It’s a close, good solid ballgame from that standpoint. But just too many times being on the wrong side of that or not having that last punch has kinda been the story of our journey.”

AU managed just four hits including one single over the final 5.1 innings, and was just 3 of 17 with runners on base.

John Armstrong (1-2) took the loss allowing one run on just one hit in 3.2 innings. He struck out six through 3.1 innings before walking two of the first three batters he faced in the ninth.

Parker Carlson walked two but got the final two outs in the ninth.

AU starter Tanner Bauman allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits in 4.2 innings. He struck out four and issued one walk on 87 pitches.

Kaleb Freeman got Auburn on the board in the first inning on a two-out double that drove in two for an early 2-0 lead.

The Rebels scratched across runs in the second and third before AU went back on top in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Eric Guevara and an RBI-single by Chris Stanfield that bounced off the pitcher.

The lead didn’t last long after Andrew Fischer drove a two-run home run well over the wall in right field to tie it back up at 4-4 in the fifth.

The series concludes Sunday at 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network.