Auburn evens series vs. LSU with an 8-6 win
LSU’s eight-game SEC winning streak, its longest in league play since 2013, came to a grinding halt Saturday night at Auburn.
The No. 1 Tigers familiar bugaboos in their rare losses – unreliable relief pitching and a lack of timely hitting – resulted in an 8-6 Auburn win that tied the series heading into Sunday’s 1 p.m. finale.
After three LSU pitchers led by starter Paul Skenes combined for 18 strikeouts and one walk in a 3-0 shutout in Friday night’s series opener, six Tigers hurlers whiffed 13 but walked seven including forcing in two runs in Saturday’s loss.
Also, LSU (37-9 overall, 16-6 SEC West) left 14 batters on bases, ending the third, fourth and six innings with the bases full.
LSU first baseman Tre’ Morgan represented the winning run at the plate with two outs in the ninth and two men on base. Morgan had a seven-pitch at-bat off AU reliever Will Cannon before he struck out to end the game.
Tigers’ center fielder Dylan Crews, college baseball’s leading hitter, was held hitless going 0 for 4 and leaving three runners stranded. He’s 1 for 7 for the series and has yet to score a run
Third baseman Tommy White accounted for a fourth of LSU’s 12 hits, going 4 for 5 with two doubles and an RBI.
Four of LSU’s six RBI came from its No. 7 and 8-hole hitters with two each from catcher Hayden Travinski and designated hitter Cade Beloso. Travinski hit LSU’s only home run, but he also struck out three times.
Despite the loss, LSU moved into first place in the SEC ahead of Vanderbilt and South Carolina. Vandy lost two of three games to Alabama and South Carolina lost its first two games to Kentucky with game three set Sunday.
Auburn (26-19-1, 10-13 SEC West) is going after its third straight league series win on Sunday after beating Mississippi State and South Carolina in 2 of 3 games each the last two weekends.
LSU grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on two-out RBI single by Travinski. His liner to center field scored shortstop Jordan Thompson, who reached base on a throwing error by Auburn third baseman Bryson Ware and advanced to second on right fielder Brayden Jobert’s ground out to second base.
The Tigers seemingly had Auburn starter Tommy Vail on the ropes in the top of the third. LSU quickly loaded the bases with no outs. After Vail struck out Crews, the Tigers managed to score just one run on a one-out RBI single by White for a 2-0 lead. Vail finished off the inning by striking out Thompson and Jobert.
Vail, in his final inning of mound duty, again escaped a bases loaded jam in the LSU fourth. A Crews grounder to third base resulted in an inning-ending force out of second baseman Gavin Dugas.
LSU starting pitcher Ty Floyd, who was dominant in the first three innings when he struck out seven consecutive batters at one point, came unglued in the fourth.
He threw a wild pitch that resulted Auburn scoring its first run and issued three walks including one that walked in the tying run at 2-2.
LSU reliever Gavin Guidry replaced Floyd and walked 9-hole hitter Nate LaRue to force in the go-ahead run for a 3-2 Auburn lead. Guidry then struck out AU left fielder Chris Stanfield to end the inning.
With Vail out of the game, LSU went to work on Auburn’s relief pitching.
AU reliever Konner Copeland threw the first 25 pitches in the LSU fifth and gave up the lead. He was tagged with consecutive doubles by White and Thompson followed by strikeouts of Jobert and Travinski.
But Beloso slapped a first-pitch, two-RBI single for a 4-3 LSU advantage.
LSU left the bases loaded for the third time when Zach Crotchfelt, AU’s third reliever of the night, struck out LSU pinch-hitter Paxton Kling to end the LSU sixth.
Javen Coleman, LSU’s third reliever, who retired Auburn three up/three down in the fifth, was yanked in the sixth when he walked AU’s first two batters.
Coleman left that mess to Bryce Collins, who faced four batters. He got the first one out on a botched pop-up bunt attempt, then gave up RBI singles to AU second baseman Brody Wortham and LaRue and hit Stanfield with a pitch.
Riley Cooper replaced Collins and immediately allowed a sacrifice fly RBI to designated hitter Ike Irish and RBI single to right fielder Ricky Peirce for a 7-4 AU lead.
LSU got a run back in seventh when Travinski greeted new AU reliever Will Cannon with a solo homer off the scoreboard.
But Auburn responded with third Ware’s solo homer on LSU reliever Sam Dutton’s sixth pitch of his appearance.
Thompson’s RBI fielders’ choice scored Morgan to cut AU’s margin to 8-6 in the eighth but White was caught in a rundown for the second out. The rally ended with right fielder Paxton Kling flying out.