Auburn Baseball Falls in Game Three to Florida

Brendan Venter (8) Photo: Anthony Hall/Auburn Athletics

An early offensive explosion was not enough for Auburn to steal a series on the road. The Tigers fell to Florida on Saturday afternoon, 12-3, losing two-of-three to the #1 Gators

Saturday’s series finale between Auburn and #1 Florida began much like Friday’s game, with Auburn quickly setting the tone. Florida starting pitcher Jackson Leftwich got off to a rocky start, by hitting Auburn leadoff batter Will Holland with a pitch, and walking the next batter, Steven Williams. After a flyout from Brett Wright, Edouard Julien walked to the plate.

That’s when Deja vu struck Gainesville.

On Friday, Edouard Julien jumped on Florida pitcher Jackson Kowar by nailing a three-run home run in the top of the first inning. Well, Julien felt that one three-run bomb in the series was not enough. Julien crushed the first pitch he saw to right-center field, giving Auburn a 3-0 lead before a Gator batter had a plate appearance.

I wish that I could tell you that “the home run was only the beginning for Auburn!”… I wish that I could tell you that.

Auburn held on to their 3-0 lead until the bottom of the 4th inning, when starting pitcher Andrew Mitchell seemed to run out of gas. The first four batters of the inning reached base on two walks, and two singles, including an RBI single by J.J. Schwarz that put the Gators on the board, all with no outs. It was then that pitching coach Steve Smith elected to bring in Davis Daniel from the bullpen to see if he could get Auburn out of the jam. A pitching change would not be enough to kill the Florida momentum, as Nick Horvath welcomed Daniel to the game by clearing the bases on a double to left center, moving Florida ahead, 4-3.

The double by Horvath “closed the book” on Andrew Mitchell, who lasted 3.0 innings and allowed four runs on four hits, walking four and striking out one.

The remainder of Daniel’s outing did not fare well, either. He would go on to allow two more runs to score in the inning, only recording one out. Calvin Coker came out of the pen to retire the final two batters of the inning, with Florida leading 6-3.

Florida extended their lead by scoring one run in both the 5th and 6th innings and scoring two runs each in the 7th and 8th innings. Coker pitched 3.2 innings, allowing five runs: RBI singles to Austin Langworthy and Blake Reese, a two-run home run by Deacon Lupit, and was responsible for the run that scored on a sacrifice fly by Langworthy in the bottom of the 8th inning. Welby Malzczewski finished the game, tossing one complete inning, allowing a run in the bottom of the 8th inning.

Auburn Baseball takes a break from mid-week action to focus on finals week. They return home to face Vanderbilt for a three-game SEC series beginning next Friday at 6 P.M.