LEXINGTON, Ky. (EETV) – No. 16 Auburn baseball was shut out Sunday in the series finale against No. 24 Kentucky after winning back-to-back thrillers. The Tigers' offense never really got going, as Auburn fell to 4-2 in SEC play, losing to the Wildcats, 6-0.
The first inning wasn’t a pretty one for Auburn, as Kentucky jumped on starter Christian Chatterton, who had trouble hitting the strike zone in the first frame. Kentucky scored their first run on Chatterton’s third walk of the ballgame as he couldn’t toss the payoff pitch over the plate, scoring Shawn Montoya.
The Wildcats continued their first-inning rally with a sacrifice fly from Devin Burkes that brought the runner at third across and a single off the bat of Tyler Bell, which brought home Cole Hage. Chatterton then walked another home and allowed another sac fly to right and Kentucky took an early 5-0 lead.
The Auburn offense on the other hand went three-up, three-down in five of the next eight innings, with no one ever coming remotely close to taking the zero off of the board. Auburn only had two runners in scoring position all game, both coming in the fifth inning with two outs, but Ike Irish couldn’t drive either of them in as he grounded the ball to the shortstop who fired it over to end the opportunity.
Kentucky added one more run in the seventh for good measure on a Devin Burkes RBI single, but the Wildcat pitching and defense stole the show. They only allowed two Auburn hits while striking out six Auburn batters and holding a top scoring offense in the Tigers scoreless. All this combined led to Auburn’s fifth loss of the year as the Tigers fall to 19-5 and 4-2 in SEC play with the 6-0 loss.
Christian Chatterton was tagged with the loss for his blowup in the first inning, allowing five runs on two hits and two walks. Deric Fabian and Ike Irish were the two Auburn hits, both singles in what was a slow day at the office after a couple hard fought wins earlier in the weekend.
Auburn continues the season with South Alabama Tuesday night down in Mobile before taking the trip over to rivals Georgia in Athens for a weekend set. First pitch Tuesday is set for 6 p.m. and you can listen to it live on the Auburn Sports Network.
