Alabama Baseball Suffers Another One-Run Loss in Series Opener Against Auburn
A slumping Alabama baseball team entered this weekend’s series at No. 20 Auburn searching for some much-needed momentum. Instead, the Crimson Tide was dealt another punch in the gut as it suffered its 12th one-loss game of the season in a 3-2 defeat to the Tigers.
Alabama is now 6-12 in one-run games this season, including losses in its last five. Half of those 12 defeats have come in conference play, which is particularly painful for a Crimson Tide team on the bubble in terms of earning an appearance in the SEC Tournament.
“This was a great college baseball game," Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon said. "We had the same number of hits; we may have even barreled more balls than they did. Garrett McMillan and Brock Guffey were both outstanding. This is kind of the story of our season – this is our 12th loss by one run, and it seems like the other team has a knack for getting the big hit when it matters. We have a quick turnaround with the day game tomorrow, and tomorrow’s got to be the day that we get a big hit with a runner in scoring position while pitching as well as G-Mac and Brock did tonight.”
Five out of the last six games between Alabama (27-23, 10-15 in the SEC) and Auburn (34-16, 14-11) have been decided by a single run, including each of the last four. The Tigers are 3-2 in those games.
After scoring double-digit runs for just the fourth time this season in a 13-6 victory at Jacksonville State on Tuesday, Alabama’s bats didn’t experience the same success during Friday’s trip to the Plains.
After a solid start from Mason Barnett, Auburn’s bullpen shut down the Crimson Tide. John Armstrong (1-0) earned the win, striking out three batters over 2⅔ innings before turning the ball over to closer Blake Burkhalter, who picked up his 12th save with a scoreless ninth inning. Auburn’s pitchers scattered seven hits over nine innings while forcing Alabama to ground into three double plays.
Alabama starter Garrett McMillan (4-4) took the loss despite putting together a solid outing. The junior right-hander gave up three earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out six batters over 5⅓ innings.
Auburn struck first in the bottom of the fifth inning, using a pair of two-out hits to take a 2-0 lead. Alabama answered back immediately in the top of the sixth as Drew Williamson hammered a two-run home run over the wall in right center. However, the Tigers retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning when Brooks Carlson hit a double that stayed just inside the foul line in right to score Bobby Pierce from second base.
Alabama entered the weekend losers in its last four SEC series. Since handing No. 1 Tennessee its first SEC loss on April 15, the Crimson Tide is just 2-10 in league play.
The recent slump puts Alabama at risk of missing out on postseason play. Heading into Saturday, the Crimson Tide is 11th in the SEC standings, just a game above Kentucky and Mississippi State who also lost Friday night. Only 12 of the 14 SEC teams are invited to take part in the SEC Tournament.
Alabama will face Auburn on Saturday and Sunday before hosting Arkansas for a three-game series next weekend to close out the regular season. Kentucky has two road games remaining against South Carolina this weekend before hosting Auburn next weekend. Mississippi State has the toughest road ahead of it as it finishes up with two games on the road against No. 10 Texas A&M this weekend before hosting No. 1 Tennessee next weekend.
First pitch for Game 2 between Alabama and Auburn is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.
