Alabama Baseball Bludgeoned by Rival Auburn in First SEC Road Loss of Season

When you're taking the ball from your Friday night starter in a conference game with nobody out in the second inning, there's nowhere to go but up. For No. 8 Alabama, Friday night's contest against No. 16 Auburn only torpedoed downwards from there, as the Crimson Tide lost 10-0 in seven innings.

The Tigers (21-9, 5-5 SEC) were anything but reeling from a midweek loss to UAB on Tuesday. On its home field, Auburn hung four runs on sophomore Zane Adams in the first and another two in the second. Three more ensued in the bottom of the fifth, followed by the death knell in the sixth.

"Credit Auburn for coming out of the chute swinging tonight," Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said. "They outplayed us in all facets of the game today."

Alabama mustered only two hits against Samuel Dutton, who spun 4.2 no-hit frames before giving up a single to Crimson Tide right fielder Bryce Fowler with two gone in the fifth. Third baseman Jason Torres added a one-out double in the seventh.

Dutton threw a seven-inning Maddux, while Adams was hit with the loss. The Crimson Tide used five pitchers and only one didn't allow a run. In six tries, the Tigers got the leadoff man on base five times and logged 15 hits as a unit.

The Crimson Tide had a sparse number of chances with runners in scoring position and went 0-for-3. Reliever Coulson Buchanan did his best to settle things down, working a game-high three innings after stepping in for Adams. He was by far Alabama's most effective pitcher of the night, but his line still included two earned runs.

Auburn designated hitter Lucas Steele's two-run double in the first inning tied second baseman Chris Rembert's two-run single in the fifth for the most damage done in one swing by a single Tigers player. Catcher Chase Fralick was a perfect 4-of-4. Leadoff man Eric Snow had three hits.

Five Tigers athletes had at least the same number of hits as the Crimson Tide (26-5, 6-4 SEC) did in totality. Only one starter in the home team's lineup was held hitless for the duration of the game.

Plainsman Park has proven a tricky venue to conquer in the Rob Vaughn era. Alabama is 1-3 in four games there under its second-year coach, dropping a series last May to an Auburn team which did not make the postseason.

It was announced shortly before Friday's contest that Saturday would shift to a doubleheader. The first game, scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. CT, can be streamed on SEC Network+. The second, which starts at 7 p.m., will be on the SEC Network (as originally scheduled).

"The beautiful thing about this game is that the sun's going to come up tomorrow and it's going to be 0-0 at 2 p.m.," Vaughn said. "We will be ready."

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