Auburn Baseball loses elimination game to Kentucky in SEC Tournament

Auburn loses their first game of the SEC Tournament to Kentucky by a score of 3-1. This game was a pitcher's duel, with Kentucky leading 1-0 until Sonny DiChiara tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth. The Wildcats then hit two home runs off of Blake Burkhalter in the top of the ninth to help them eventually win.

Now that the SEC Tournament is over for the Tigers, they will look ahead to see where they are seeded in the NCAA Tournament.

Here are four takeaways from Auburn's loss to Kentucky.

Skipper starts the game off great for the Tigers

Carson Skipper started the game for the Tigers, going three innings striking out seven Wildcat hitters and not allowing a run. Skipper was one of the few bright spots for the Tigers in this loss. All of his pitches looked good, and he was throwing strikes. If Auburn wants to make a run in the NCAA Tournament, they will need Skipper to pitch like he did against Kentucky.

Defense was solid for the Tigers

The other bright spot for the Tigers, aside from Skipper, was the defense. Auburn made multiple great plays, whether in bunt defense or throwing a runner out at the plate.

The Tigers did all they could with their gloves to give themselves a chance to win but fell just short. If the defense continues like it is now, it will help Auburn make a potential run to Omaha.

Auburn had an awful night with runners in scoring position

The Tigers had many chances in this game to give themselves a lead, but they could not deliver. Auburn was 0-9 at the plate with runners in scoring position against Kentucky. If the Tigers can't start producing hits with runners on base, they will struggle to make it past the regional round.

Nothing needs to change about the Auburn hitters' approach sometimes; you need to be clutch, and the only person to be clutch in this game at the plate was DiChiara with his game-tying homer. If they want to make a run, the Tigers will have to figure out how to get base hits with people on base.

Failed execution of small ball

Two times in this game against Kentucky, the Tigers looked to put down a sacrifice bunt, and both times they failed. In the first attempt, Brody Moore got the bunt down, but it was right to the first baseman, who got the lead runner out at third. In this situation, a bunt down the third-base line would have prevented this from happening. In the ninth inning, Mason Land came up with the Tigers trailing 3-1 with men on first and second and no outs. He was called upon to bunt and couldn't get it down. He went on to strike out looking.

Small mistakes lose ball games, and that is precisely what happened to Auburn in the SEC Tournament.

The selection show for the NCAA Tournament will take place on Monday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2. The Tigers will hope to be a top 16 seed and host a regional. Auburn will have to put this tough loss behind them as we head into the NCAA Tournament.