Auburn baseball drops series to Tennessee but earns much-needed win

Auburn baseball drops the series to Tennessee but picked up a massive win in game two.

Auburn baseball fought hard against the best team in the nation but came up a bit short. Injuries to the pitching staff created one of the biggest storylines of the weekend. Both starter Hayden Mullins and closer Blake Burkhalter sustained injuries in the series.

Mullins hurt his pitching arm, and the extent of that injury is still unknown. Burkhalter tweaked his hamstring and could not pitch in either of the final two games of the series. The hope for Burkhalter is that he will be ready to go next weekend against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Blake Rambusch, Sonny DiChiara, and Bobby Peirce all had a great weekend at the plate and helped Auburn win in game two.

Game one was close from the first pitch through the bottom half of the seventh inning. Auburn was leading 4-2 but left the seventh down 10-4. Then in the bottom half of the eighth inning, the Volunteers put up another seven runs and ended up winning game one by a score of 17-4. While this game was a blowout, there was still optimism that Auburn would be able to hang with this excellent ball club. Tommy Sheehan did a fantastic job relieving the injured Mullins tossing 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball. Chase Isbell also threw a scoreless inning of relief baseball, but the rest of the bullpen did not fare as well against the power of the Tennessee lineup. The bottom half of the lineup did the damage for Auburn in game one behind multi-hit performances from Nate LaRue and Cam Hill.

Game two was a fun one that included a bit of chirping back and forth between the two dugouts and reminded fans why SEC baseball is so much fun. Trace Bright got the start for the Tigers and threw 5.2 innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out eight. While Bright threw a fantastic game, the all-stars for the Tigers in game two were relievers Chase Allsup and Konner Copeland. These two combined to throw 3.1 innings and shut the door on Tennessee. Copeland picked up the win in this game for Auburn. Those two bullpen pitchers stepping up was huge for Auburn as they were missing their two best relievers, Burkhalter and Carson Skipper. Hopefully, Allsup and Copeland can be answers to challenges in the bullpen for this Auburn team. Only one Tiger had a multi-hit night, and that was Kason Howell, who had the big base knock to tie the game in the top of the ninth when Auburn was down to its final strike. Then the big blow came from Peirce, who sent a three-run home run over the wall to give Auburn an 8-5 lead. The Tigers won the game 8-6 behind an all-around outstanding performance.

Game three was a tough loss for the Tigers, but a testament to this team's fight. The Tigers dropped game three 5-3 after tying the game at three in the sixth inning. Joseph Gonzalez gave up three quick runs in the bottom of the first inning but then settled in and was in cruise control until the eighth. In the bottom of the eighth inning, a two-run blast gave Tennessee a 5-3 lead that would hold to be the final score. Gonzalez looked good on the mound and went deep into the game, which was much needed with Auburn’s injuries in the bullpen. At the plate, Peirce continued his spectacular weekend racking up two hits to go along with two RBI'S. Cole Foster also had a solid day at the plate with a base hit and a sac fly RBI. The Tigers put themselves in a position to win this game but still fell a bit short.

Auburn did what it needed to this weekend by leaving Knoxville with a win under its belt. The magic number to host a regional at Plainsman Park is 18 SEC wins, and Auburn got one step closer by bringing their SEC win total to 12. The Auburn Baseball team needs to take one of three from Arkansas next weekend and five of six from their cross-state rivals Alabama and Kentucky. If Auburn can get 18 SEC wins, they will host their first regional since 2010.

MVP'S of the Weekend

Konner Copeland had 2.0 innings pitched, one earned run, two strikeouts and received the win in game two.

Nate LaRue was 4-9 on the weekend and had two bases on balls. LaRue continued his hot streak at the plate that he hopes will follow him to next weekend's series.

The Tigers do not have a midweek game this week, so hopefully, that will give them plenty of time to rest and get ready for the weekend. They have a three-game set with the Razorbacks of Arkansas, with game one being played on Friday, May the 6th at 6:00 p.m. CT. That game can be found on ESPN+.