On Sunday afternoon, the Aggies faced Auburn to cap off their weekend series at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala. After tying the series on Saturday in a thrilling victory, the Aggies fell to the Tigers, 8-5.
The Tigers opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning with two outs, when freshman Cam Hill came home on an error. They added to their lead with the next batter, when junior Kason Howell singled to left field, bringing home junior Brody Moore and senior Steven Williams to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
The Aggies answered in the top of the second inning, when junior Taylor Smith barreled a solo home run into left field, making the score 3-1.
The Tigers stretched their lead in the bottom of the second inning, when senior Judd Ward came home off of a single by junior Ryan Bliss. Graduate student Rankin Woley singled to bring home freshman Ryan Dyal and senior Garrett Farquhar brought home Bliss with a single of his own, giving the Tigers a commanding 6-1 advantage.
A&M began to mount a comeback in the top of the fourth inning, when junior Jordan Thompson scored off of a single by junior Ty Coleman. Later, Coleman scored off of a single by freshman Kalae Harrison to cut the Auburn lead to three. Hill added to the Tigers’ lead in the bottom of the fourth when he was brought home by a single from Howell, making the score 7-3. The Aggies responded in the top of the sixth, when a sacrifice fly by Harrison brought home Smith, making the count 7-4.
In the top of the eighth inning, graduate student Bryan Sturges reached first off of an error, bringing home Smith to make it a two-run game. Farquhar scored in the bottom of the eighth, regaining the three-run advantage. The Aggies failed to mount a comeback in the top of the ninth, and the Tigers sealed the series with a 8-5 victory.
The Aggies totaled 10 hits on the day, with Smith, Harrison and graduate student Ray Alejo leading the way with two hits each. Sophomore Mason Ornelas earned the start at the mound, surrendering five runs off of two hits in 1.0 innings. Freshman Nathan Dettmer, sophomore Jonathan Childress and senior Chandler Jozwiak also saw time at the mound.
The loss drops the Aggies to 28-25 on the season, including 8-19 in SEC play. The Tigers move to 22-25 and 8-19 in SEC play.
The Aggies will finish the regular season with a three-game series against LSU at Blue Bell Park. The opening game is slated for Thursday, with the first pitch scheduled at 6 p.m.