AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn fell in an early deficit and couldn't make up the difference as the Tigers ultimately fell to UAB, 6-4, at Plainsman Park Tuesday night.
Trailing 6-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Auburn (29-19) loaded the bases with nodody out but was only able to get a run on a sacrifice fly in the frame.
The Tigers sent the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but a flyout to center field ended the game in UAB's (23-26) favor.
"We had plenty of chances," head coach Butch Thompson said on the Auburn Sports Network. "We got our 10 hits, but we didn't get the hits to produce the runs. They tripped us up. We'll have to get back out and be ready to go for Georgia this weekend."
Carson Skipper (3-3, 7.46) suffered his first home loss of the season, while UAB's Ryan Wesson (2-2) picked up the win in relief and Matthew Calvert earned the save.
UAB jumped out to a 2-0 lead through one and 4-0 through three, but Auburn chipped away with a run in each of its next two at-bats to cut the lead in half. Will Holland and Conor Davis led off the third and fourth innings with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly from Ryan Bliss and RBI groundout from Rankin Woley, respectively.
However, the Blazers got both runs back on a RBI double and wild pitch in the top of the fifth.
With a trio of relievers in Garrett Wade, Kyle Gray and Will Morrison holding UAB in check at the plate, the Tigers again chipped away at the lead with a run on a RBI double from Matt Scheffler in the sixth, but a pair of runners were left stranded in the frame.
The Tigers loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth and continued to cut into the lead on a sacrifice fly from Kason Howell to make it a 6-4 ballgame. However, the bases were left loaded on an infield fly and strikeout, and that's as close as the Tigers would get.
Holland led the way offensively with his third straight three-hit game and is now 9-for-12 in the last three contests. The middle of the order in Davis, Edouard Julien and Scheffler each collected a pair of hits. Davis extended his hit streak to 10 games, matching Auburn's season high.
Auburn wraps up its home SEC schedule with a three-game series against No. 7 Georgia (37-12, 16-8 SEC) Friday-Sunday.