Takeaways from Auburn's 6-5 loss to UAB

This was a painful loss for the Tigers, who had yet to lose a midweek game this season.

It was one of those games where all the little things seemed to go UAB's way, and that is going to happen sometimes.

There were a lot of suspect calls in favor of UAB, but that will not be a takeaway. Sometimes things don't go your way in baseball, and this was one of those games.

What did we learn from the Tiger's first midweek loss of the season?

Walks will haunt

Free bases will haunt. There is no surprise in that statement. If you look at the stat line Auburn only allowed six free bases in this game. One might think that number is not so bad, and it's really not. The issue was four of them came in the bottom of the first inning. This led to a 4-0 lead for the Blazers right out of the chute. In a midweek game you should fill up the zone, and Konner Copeland did not do that against UAB, leading to a crooked number in the first. If the Tigers want a post-season berth, it's going to need to start with fewer free bases granted by the pitching staff.

Nate LaRue has been hitting the ball hard

Nate LaRue had a rough start to the season at the plate but has really been hitting the ball hard lately. Not all of these hard-hit balls have fallen, but they will start to the more he does it. He has gone back to his swing from a season ago, and it has been a confidence boost for the Tigers catcher. LaRue was 1-3 in this game with a two-out RBI single and a couple of K's. His defense is so valuable that if some hits could start falling, it would really benefit this ball club.

LaRue comes through. 👊@Ralue24 shoots one right back where it came from.

T4 | UAB 4, Auburn 2 pic.twitter.com/RsjQUieWNt
— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) April 5, 2023

Tommy Sheehan is back

We hadn't seen Tommy Sheehan since the first weekend of the season, but he made his presence felt in a big way against UAB. The lefty went 1.1 innings striking out three and not allowing a run. He did a terrific job keeping the Tigers in this ball game. Bullpen depth has been one of the main issues for the Tigers in 2023, so hopefully, a healthy Sheehan means the Tigers can get some quality long relief appearances out of him as we near the midway point of SEC play.

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