Kentucky baseball (14-7, 1-4 SEC) fell short in an 11-inning thriller to No. 20 Auburn (19-4, 4-1 SEC) by a score of 8-7.
There was no shortage of late inning fireworks in the ballgame as Kentucky entered the bottom of the ninth down 7-3.
Needing four runs to keep the game going, Ethan Hindle and Griffin Cameron singled. After both runners moved to second and third on a wild pitch, Shaun Montoya and Luke Lawrence grounded out to bring home two runs.
Cole Hage was hit by a pitch and Paterick Herrera hit a flyball to left that was just missed by a diving Bub Terrell to bring home Hage.
Kyuss Gargett pinch ran for Herrera, and he was driven home on a single by Hudson Brown to tie the game 7-7.
After Cole Hentschel pitched a scoreless top of the 10th, the offense loaded the bases as Hindle was hit by a pitch Cameron walked, and Montoya was hit by a pitch.
Lawrence flew out and Hage grounded out to end the inning with the score still tied.
Ike Irish gave Auburn an 8-7 lead in the eleventh with his second home run of the game into the visitor’s bullpen.
Gargett reached on catchers’ inference to lead off the bottom of the 11th and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by James McCoy. Tyler Bell grounded out but moved Gargett over to third.
With Devin Burkes at the plate, Gargett tried to steal home, but was thrown out to end the game.
The scoring began in the first as the Tigers took a 1-0 lead after a walk by Ethan Walker resulted in a stolen base and a single.
Auburn added to its lead in the second as Cade Belyeu hit a one-out triple and was brought home on a sacrifice fly.
Walker could not make it out of the fourth inning as Evan Byers came on with two runners on-base but got out of the jam unscathed.
The Wildcats got off to a slow start offensively as they accumulated baserunners in the first three innings, but could not cash-in. However, in the fourth Bell added a run on his own by launching a home run over the left-field wall to make the score 2-1.
Scott Rouse took over on the hill in the fifth and worked around an error to toss a scoreless frame.
Cameron greeted the new Auburn pitcher with a single and he quickly scored as Montoya roped a double off the left centerfield wall to tie the game 2-2.
Back-to-back wild pitches scored Montoya which gave Kentucky a 3-2 lead.
The lead was short-lived as things unraveled in the fourth for Rouse.
Irish led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. Chris Rembert singled to tie the game 3-3.
A double and back-to-back singles resulted in two more runs for the Tigers. A fielder’s choice brought home the fourth and final run of the inning for the Tigers to give them a 6-3 lead.
The Wildcats had a huge opportunity in the eighth as they got two baserunners with no outs. However, Brown, Bell and Burkes struck out to squander the chance.
Irish launched a home run over the right-field wall that gave the Tigers the 7-3 lead going into the ninth.
Ultimately, the Wildcats had no answer for Irish, who finished the game 5-6 with two home runs, a double, three runs scored and two RBIs.
With the loss, Kentucky is now on a five-game losing streak for the first time since 2021 and the 1-4 start in conference play is the worst since 2022.
Kentucky will look to avoid the sweep in game three against Auburn on Sunday, March 23, with first pitch set for 11 a.m. ET.
