Auburn Falls Flat, Swept by No. 1 Texas Longhorns
The Auburn Tigers could use a break on Easter Sunday having been swept in their three-game series against the No. 1 Texas Longhorns.
No. 6 Auburn scored early on Ike Irishโs fourth home run of the weekend, but No. 1 Texas ultimately run ruled the Tigers 14-2 in seven innings Saturday afternoon at Disch-Falk Field.
BOX SCORE: Auburn 2, Texas 14
Irish homered for his third straight at-bat to start the game, marking his team-best 11th home run of the season and eighth of Southeastern Conference play. However, Texas scored nine unanswered runs from the first through the fifth innings and ended the game early with a five-run seventh.
โAt the end of the day, maybe we couldโve made a play in the first, but they were on the fastball and were swinging it great,โ head coach Butch Thompson. โI think we scored one run for three games outside of the (six) off Ike Irishโs bat, which Ike had a great weekend. You have to create some offense at some point, and we just never could.โ
After Irishโs solo homer in the first, Texas (33-5, 16-2 SEC) responded with five runs on five hits, including a pair of homers, to take a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the inning. Three straight batters reached on a double, single and error, and the Longhorns hit back-to-back homers to cap off the scoring in the frame.
Auburn (27-13, 9-9 SEC) went to Ryan Hetzler in relief of Andreas Alvarez to start the second inning, and Texas added two more runs on three hits with Kimble Schuessler driving in his fourth and fifth runs of the game on a double.ย ย
After allowing the two runs in the second, Hetzler held the Longhorns scoreless in the third through and fourth innings, retiring seven straight batters at one point. Texas added to its lead, though, as three straight batters reached with one out, and catcher Rylan Galvan hit a two-out, two-run single through the left side to extend the lead to 9-1.
Mason Koch made his Auburn debut and turned in a scoreless sixth inning, retiring three of the four batters he faced, and Bub Terrell doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the seventh. It marked the first run of the weekend that wasnโt driven in by Irish.
Leading 9-2, Texas hit a two-run homer and three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to finish off the sweep.
โWe have to look ourselves in the mirror and respect that guy, because that guy has gotten us to this point,โ Deric Fabian said. โObviously it wasnโt our weekend, but the great news about baseball is we get a chance to bounce back on Tuesday. Weโre looking forward to the next opportunity.โ
The Tigers return home for four game next week, starting with No. 13 Georgia Tech (29-9) Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
