Wildcats rally to take game one

Just two outs away from its 20th win of the season, No. 6 Auburn suffered one of its toughest defeats of the season, 5-4 at No. 8 Kentucky.

With the Tigers leading 4-2 with one out in the ninth, Luke Heyer hit a two-run home run off Calvin Coker to tie the game. Two more singles chased Coker and a wild pitch by Elliott Anderson brought home the winning run.

Auburn falls to 19-4 overall and 2-2 in the SEC while the Wildcats improve to 16-6 and 1-3.

“You want to win every game but I thought Casey Mize was tremendous and we competed our heart out,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “We just didn’t make a couple of plays down the stretch. They hit a big home run and that was the difference in the ballgame.”

In a matchup of college aces, neither Mize or Kentucky’s Sean Hjelle figured into the decision.

Mize allowed two runs on five hits in 7.0 innings. He struck out 12 and didn’t issue a walk on 105 pitches. The All-American left with the Tigers leading 4-2.

Coker (3-1) took the loss allowing three runs on five hits in 1.1 innings.

Hjelle, the 2017 SEC Pitcher of the Year, allowed four runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings with seven strikeouts and no walks.

Kentucky led 2-1 after six innings before Auburn struck for three runs off Hjelle in the seventh. Brett Wright tied the game with a leadoff solo home run to right field, his team-leading sixth of the season. Jay Estes followed with a single, going to third base on a one-out single by Luke Jarvis to chase Hjelle.

Estes came around to score on a wild pitch by reliever Alec Maley and Jarvis scored on a wild pitch by reliever Jimmy Ramsey.

Auburn took a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI double by Will Holland, but Kentucky answered with runs in the third and fourth to take the lead. Holland, Wright, Estes and Luke Jarvis had two hits apiece for the Tigers.

The series continues Saturday at 11 a.m. CT and Sunday at noon. Both games will be on SECN+ and WatchESPN while Saturday’s contest will also be on SEC Network.