Auburn (16-11, 1-8) fell in the series finale of their visit to Texas A&M (25-3,6-3), in a game that went 12 innings and did not end till almost midnight central time, the Tigers did not want to go away in this one coming back from three down in the eighth, a comeback kicked off by a Christian Hall homerun with an Ike Irish single that led to his third RBI on the day and a McMurray sac fly to tie it up. Then in the ninth down one, a Gavin Miller pinch homer tied it once again. No more runs were scored until the 12th inning when the Aggies finally broke the deadlock when Ted Burden slapped a single up the middle that drove in the winning run.
Ike Irish stood out for the third straight game for the Tigers as he led the offensive attack. He was two of five at the plate while he recorded three RBIs that came on a two-run single in the second inning that grabbed an early Auburn lead and an eighth-inning hit that kept the rally that would tie the game alive. Irish walked once in his five plate appearances.
Braden Montgomery once again was kryptonite for Auburn pitching as he recorded another homerun in the win. The home run was one of his three hits on the day and was good enough to add to his SEC-leading RBI total of 47, recording two and crossing the plate himself four times including the game winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Hayden Schott was another spark plug for the Aggies offense as he was three for three with a walk and a hit by a pitch in his five plate appearances.
Starting pitching struggled again as Gonzalez got the nod for the finale. He gave up two in the second and three in the third but only three were earned in the short outing. He only struck out one and walked two before being pulled with two outs in the third.
The top of the Auburn lineup was a makeshift run factory for the Tigers. Weiss, Irish, McMurrary, and Stanfield all recorded two hits, with six RBIs between them. Help from the whole lineup getting on base and turning the lineup over for the power guys at the top to drive them in was key in keeping this game close.
Auburn’s bullpen, while they gave up runs at a higher rate than is comfortable to win a game, came through as well as they could late in this one as Armstrong, Tilly, and Schorr all came into this one in big spots and kept the Tiger hopes alive.
Auburn will be back in action on Tuesday, April 2nd at Regions Field in Birmingham where they will take on UAB. The first pitch will be at 6 PM and the call will be on the Auburn Sports App in conjunction with the Auburn Sports Network.
