After a disappointing 0-3 weekend in Southeastern Conference play, the Auburn baseball team had a chance to pick up a nonconference win Wednesday against South Alabama.

But the Jaguars didn’t cooperate.

South Alabama shut down Auburn’s bats and battered the Tigers’ bullpen in a 7-1 win Wednesday at Plainsman Park. AU (22-16) has lost four consecutive games.

Auburn coach Tom Slater said his players weren’t affected by last weekend’s sweep at the hands of South Carolina, but admitted he was disappointed by the Tigers’ lack of production Wednesday.

“You’d think, coming off a tough series where you battled your guts out all three games and came up short, you’d be chomping at the bit to get back on the field,” Slater said.

Instead, South Alabama (21-16) accounted for most of the highlights.

The Jaguars took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning and never trailed. Auburn rallied to tie the game at 1 in the bottom of the fourth, but couldn’t manage another run.

South Alabama pitchers had surrendered 38 runs in five previous games against SEC opponents. But they were dominant Wednesday, holding AU to one run on eight hits.

Six South Alabama pitchers threw at least an inning; only two allowed more than one hit.

The Tigers’ best offensive inning came in the ninth, trailing, 7-1. Base hits by David Cunningham and Ben Jones and a walk by Matt Jones loaded the bases with one out, but Trent Mummey grounded into a double play to end the game.

“It was a really bad night at the plate for Auburn,” Slater said. “We’ve been so good offensively all year, I’d like to think that’s an aberration.

“It was just a really poor night offensively.”

South Alabama wasn’t much better, with one glaring exception: The seventh inning.

The Jaguars figured out Auburn reliever Taylor Thompson (2-4) in the seventh. The first three batters Thompson faced all reached base.

After Ryan Bohanon led off the seventh with a double, Ryan McCrory followed with a two-run home run. The next batter, Bunky Kateon, also homered.

Reliever Scott Shuman, who replaced Thompson after Kateon’s homer, retired the first batter he faced, then walked Jake Overstreet. Slater turned to left-hander Evan Crawford, who was even less effective.

Crawford surrendered three runs on two consecutive singles and a sacrifice fly. The junior also threw a wild pitch before escaping the inning.

USA reliever Michael Raia (1-0) pitched a perfect sixth inning and picked up the win.

Auburn returns to SEC play with a three-game series at Vanderbilt starting Friday.

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