The Auburn Tigers (13-5, 0-2) dropped another contest in Nashville, Tennessee, Saturday afternoon, falling to the Vanderbilt Commodores (17-3, 2-0) by a score of 13-5.
The defeat to the Commodores marks the ninth straight loss at Hawkins Field for Auburn.
“I think our guys are absolutely competing,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “The difference has just been [Vanderbilt’s] ability and their toughness. They’re playing great baseball right now and their at-bats are just a tick better up and down the lineup.”
The Tigers took a quick 2-0 lead in their first time up thanks to a Vanderbilt fielding error and an RBI double to center by redshirt junior Cooper McMurray. However, the Commodores put up a three spot in the bottom half of the first and Auburn never led again.
Junior Carson Myers started for the Tigers and went just three and a third innings in his second consecutive Saturday start. He gave up six hits, four earned runs and two walks. A solid inning from junior John Armstrong kept the Tigers in the game, but the floodgates opened for Vanderbilt when freshman Cam Tilly entered. Tilly gave up six hits, seven earned runs and three walks in the 1.2 innings he pitched.
“We haven’t pitched good enough to win a ballgame yet,” Thompson said. “Hopefully we can flip that script tomorrow.”
Vanderbilt pitching gave up just one earned run and struck out nine Tiger hitters. Junior right hander Bryce Cunningham received the winning decision for the Commodores, going five innings and striking out five. Only one of the three runs he gave up was earned.
Auburn had a few players hit the ball well, but could not string together enough hits to stay on pace with Vanderbilt’s offense. McMurray was the Tigers best offensive producer on Saturday, finishing the afternoon with two hits, two RBIs, a walk and a home run. Senior Javon Hernandez added two hits of his own to the Tiger total.
It was a hit barrage for Vanderbilt, as the Commodores tallied 17 total hits. Six Vanderbilt hitters had multi-hit games. Senior catcher Alan Espinal reached base in all six of his plate appearances, racking up four hits and four RBIs in the process.
Auburn will look to salvage the series tomorrow as redshirt junior Joseph Gonzalez will start for the Tigers. Auburn has also saved junior Will Cannon and senior Tanner Bauman, two of their better bullpen arms, for the Sunday series finale.
The finale of the Tigers three-game set at Vanderbilt is scheduled for first pitch at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday. You can watch live on SEC Network+, or listen to the call on the Auburn Sports Network.
