Tigers fall short vs. Mississippi State

With the season running out, the Auburn baseball team can’t afford to miss many opportunities.

Saturday, the Tigers did exactly that, coming up just short against last-place Mississippi State in a 4-3 loss.

The loss adds more pressure to an Auburn team fighting to stay in contention for the Southeastern Conference Tournament. AU is currently in 11th place in the SEC standings. The top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament.

After Saturday’s games, Kentucky and Tennessee are tied for eighth place, two games ahead of Auburn. With seven SEC games remaining in the regular season, Auburn likely needs at least a 5-2 finish.

Head coach Tom Slater knows Saturday’s missed opportunity makes his team’s task more difficult than ever.

“Losing today stinks,” Slater said. “But tomorrow, we’ll have an opportunity to go out and win a series.

“The kids are playing their guts out. They’ll come out and do their best tomorrow to try to win a series.”

Auburn (25-23, 9-14 SEC) had a chance in the ninth inning Saturday against MSU closer Aaron Weatherford. Matt Hall walked with two outs, then stole second.

With Hall in scoring position, freshman Justin Hargett hammered a 2-0 pitch deep to left-center field. The swing brought most of the Plainsman Park crowd of 2,523 to their feet in anticipation of a double in the gap.

But Bulldogs center fielder Mark Goforth made a running catch just in front of the fence.

“Once again, our kids give themselves a chance to win a game late,” Slater said. “Hargey squared that ball up. He just had a little bit too much air underneath it, and their center fielder was able to run it down.”

That wasn’t Auburn’s only missed opportunity Saturday. The Tigers squandered a solid effort from starter Taylor Thompson, who allowed four runs in a season-high six innings, and reliever Michael Hurst, who held MSU to one hit over the final three innings.

Thompson (2-5) gave up three runs in the third inning and a solo home run by Tyler Moore in the sixth. But AU’s offense had plenty of chances to get back into the game.

“Taylor Thompson did a really nice job in his start,” Slater said. “I thought Hurst came in and really did a good job for us, too. It was a well-pitched game on both sides, by both clubs.”

With Auburn trailing 4-2 in the eighth, Mike Bianucci hit a solo home run to pull the Tigers within a run. After Bianucci’s homer, MSU (19-27, 7-16) turned to Weatherford, who hasn’t allowed an earned run all season.

The Bulldogs’ closer retired the first four batters he faced before walking Hall. Hargett’s flyout gave MSU the win and Weatherford his fifth save.

The series concludes today at 2 p.m. Junior right-hander Luke Greinke (3-3, 4.50) will start for Auburn against MSU left-hander Justin Pigott (2-1, 4.13).

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