It was a doubly painful day for Auburn.
Mississippi State struck for three runs in the the seventh and another in the eighth for a 4-3 walk-off win over the Tigers and a sweep of a doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.
The Bulldogs won game one of the doubleheader 3-1 to complete the three-game sweep. AU falls to 19-20 overall and 2-16 in the SEC with an eighth consecutive conference loss.
“So far it’s just been one to forget in league play,” AU coach Butch Thompson told the Auburn Network. “We were in position up 3-1 in that last frame. Good teams figure out a way to get that done.”
Both of Sunday’s games were scheduled for seven innings. AU totaled six hits in 15 innings in the doubleheader, going 3 of 17 with runners on base and 1 of 7 with runners in scoring position.
Carson Myers was excellent as AU’s starter in game two holding MSU to a run on four hits in 6.0 innings with five strikeouts and one walk. He turned it over to Will Cannon in the seventh after throwing 89 pitches with AU leading 3-1.
MSU greeted Cannon with back-to-back singles and then a two-RBI double to tie it 3-3. AU escaped further damage after Carter Wright picked a pinch-runner off second base and Parker Carlson retired the next two batters.
Christian Herberholz took over in the eighth and allowed the winning run with two outs on an RBI-single by Connor Hujsak.
“Myers did an amazing job for us but it wasn’t meant to be,” said Thompson.
Auburn scored all three of its runs in the fourth inning of game two on a hit, four walks and an error. Ike Irish walked in a run with the bases loaded and Wright had an RBI-groundout.
Auburn had just four hits in game one including a solo home run by Kaleb Freeman in the fifth inning, the first-career hit for the junior college transfer.
The Tigers loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but Irish lined out to the right fielder for the final out.
Tanner Bauman (2-2) took the loss despite allowing one earned run in 3.2 innings. MSU’s winning run scored on a throwing error by shortstop Cooper Weiss in the fourth.
John Armstrong allowed a run on five hits and two walks over the final 2.2 innings.
Auburn hosts Florida A&M Tuesday at 3 p.m. CT on SECN+/ESPN+ and returns to league play with a three-game series at LSU beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m.
