Weekend Review: Auburn Baseball swept by LSU

Dylan Ingram extended his hitting streak to nine games over the weekend (Photo: Auburn Athletics/Wade Rackley)

After a tough weekend in Baton Rouge, Auburn Baseball extends their losing streak to seven games after being swept in three games by #10 LSU. THURSDAY-- LSU 4 AUBURN 0 In an effort to give his weekend starting pitchers a full week’s rest, Coach Butch Thompson elected to give Andrew Mitchell the start on the mound in Thursday’s game at LSU. The Bayou Bengals struck Mitchell early, forcing the junior to make an early exit after just 2.1 innings of work. LSU scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning, starting with Greg Deichmann’s RBI single with two on, scoring Kramer Robertson from third base. Later in the inning, Mitchell walked Beau Jordan with the bases loaded to extend the LSU lead to 2-0. Deichmann later scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Josh Smith. Robertson would reach base again in the 2nd inning on a base on balls, his second of the game. He later scored on an Antoine Duplantis double to right field. The bright spot of the game was that LSU would not be able to score again in the game, senior Gabe Klobosits made sure of that. Klobosits was able to pitch the remaining 5.2 innings, saving the bullpen. In his outing, Klobosits struck out four and allowed three hits in a shutout effort. “Best outing of the year by far for him,” Thompson said of Klobosits during his postgame interview with the Auburn Sports Network. “He put a little pause in his game, and just stayed out there for the entire ball game. Hopefully, that serves us well.” LSU’s offense did just enough to help out their starter, Alex Lange. Lange struck out nine Tigers while allowing only five hits in what was his second consecutive complete game performance. Of Auburn’s five hits, Dylan Ingram led the way by going 3-for-3. Jonah Todd and Will Holland recorded the other two hits. He didn’t try to do too much,” Thompson said of Ingram’s performance.”He was the guy that saw (Lange) the best. He had a really good night, we are going to need more of those types of approaches to come out here and get a game tomorrow.” FRIDAY-- LSU 5 AUBURN 3 Auburn clawed their way back from being down 3-0 at the end of the fifth inning in game two of the series on Friday, by tying the game over the sixth and seventh innings. LSU got the final say in the game when Michael Papierski hit a two-run home run off of Keegan Thompson in the bottom of the seventh inning, which would be enough to give LSU the series win. Down 3-0 at the end of five innings, Dylan Ingram got Auburn on the board with a sacrifice fly to right field in the sixth inning, deep enough to score Jonah Todd from third base. A throwing error by LSU would move Auburn to within one in the seventh inning. Will Holland reached first on the error by LSU’s Josh Smith, which also freed Jay Estes to score from third. Todd would send Holland home later in the inning on a single to left field, tying the game at three. Auburn’s lead would be short lived, as Papierski’s two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning would cap the scoring in the game. Keegan Thompson pitched seven complete innings, allowing all five runs, striking out four and walking two. He moves to 5-4 on the season. Jonah Todd was the key batter, going 4-for-5 at the plate with a RBI. The loss was Auburn’s sixth straight defeat. “We either win, or we learn,” Butch Thompson said on the Auburn Sports Network’s postgame show. “Like life, we are trying to learn what (this stretch of six straight losses) is trying to teach us. We will continue to try to learn something, and come back out here and try to win a game.” SATURDAY-- LSU 9 AUBURN 1 Much like the first two games of the series, LSU’s pitching stole the show and propelled them to victory. Freshman right-hander Eric Walker tossed eight innings on Saturday afternoon, allowing only one hit and an earned run while striking out three. He out worked Auburn’s Casey Mize, who was bumped after four innings, allowing six hits and five runs. Auburn’s lone run came in the top of the eighth inning on a Sam Gillikin home run to left field. Beau Jordan, Michael Papierski, and Kramer Robertson got LSU on the board in the second inning. Jordan singled with two on and no outs to score Nick Coombs from third base. Papierski followed up by sacrificing himself to score Josh Smith from third base, extending LSU’s lead to 2-0, still with no outs recorded. The second sacrifice of the inning was a fly ball from Robertson, scoring Jordan. Papierski had an encore performance in the fourth inning, as he hit his second two-run home run in as many days. His shot to right field moved LSU’s lead to 5-0. LSU’s second big inning came in the sixth inning when three more runs were added. Jordan’s sacrifice fly was deep enough to left field, that it scored Smith from third base. Senior Cole Freeman joined the parade when he hit a two-RBI single to score Zach Watson from third, and Kramer Robertson from second. Jordan scored once more in the game, capping the scoring in the eighth inning. Robertson grounded out to third base, allowing Jordan to cross home plate one final time in the game. Davis Daniel, who did not grab a weekend start due to the short week, pitched 1.1 innings in the game three loss to LSU, allowing two runs and walking three. Cole Lipscomb and Calvin Coker each threw at least one inning in the game, each allowing an earned run on two hits. Auburn ends the weekend with a 32-21 record, 14-13 in SEC play. Dylan Ingram was the weekend’s top performer. He extended his hitting streak to nine games over the weekend, going 15-for-36 in that stretch with three doubles, three home runs, and nine RBI. Next up for Auburn is a three-game series with Ole Miss to end the regular season. Game one of the series begins at 6 P.M. at Plainsman Park.