Auburn baseball coach Butch Thompson — Auburn Athletics

Auburn baseball falls to Kentucky in game one

The Auburn Tigers struggled to score runners in the first game of the series.

Author:
Zac Blackerby
Publish date:
May 20, 2022 1:01 PM EDT

The Tigers dropped game one of the series in Lexington by a score of 5-1.

The bats never really woke up for Auburn in the first game of the series. The Tigers only recorded four hits. They left ten men on base in the loss. Leaving this many runners on the base paths is a recipe for a loss. The Tigers will look to bounce back from this game one loss in game two which is set to start in less than an hour.

Trace Bright will get the ball for the Tigers in the second game of the series as Auburn looks to even the series at a game apiece. Auburn hopes the bats will wake up for the second game of the doubleheader.

Check out the Live Blog for game two.

Follow along here for updates from the Auburn Daily staff.

Ninth Inning Kentucky Leads 5-1

Auburn baseball celebrates after a Cole Foster home run against Alabama State.

Farquhar is up for the Tigers.

Farquhar fly's out to the right fielder.

The Tigers are down to their final two outs as Moore steps to the plate.

Moore is down on strikes.

DiChiara is up with the Tigers final out.

DiChiara is down on strikes.

The Tigers drop game one of the series to Kentucky.

Game two will begin at approximately 5:15 C.T.

Eighth Inning Kentucky Leads 5-1

Auburn baseball celebrates after defeated South Carolina. — Photo credit: Grace Schinsing/Auburn Athletics

Howell is set to lead off the top of the eighth.

Howell fly's out to start the inning.

Land steps into the box for the Tigers.

The first baseman makes a great play for Kentucky to retire Land.

LaRue is up to try and extend the inning.

LaRue is down on strikes, and we head to the bottom of the eighth inning with Kentucky leading 5-1.

Isbell is back out to pitch for Auburn in the bottom of the eighth.

Interesting note: The Tigers have only been out hit seven to four today. The real difference in the game has been the ten runners the tigers have left on base compared to the Wildcats six.

Isbell gets a strikeout to start the inning.

A slow roller to third and Rambusch is not able to make the play. Man on first with one out.

Moore drops the fly ball but is able to get the runner at second. Still a man on first with two outs.

Base hit to center field and Howell throws the runner out at third.

The play is currently under review by the umpire crew.

The call stands and the runner is out.

We head to the top of the ninth with Kentucky still leading 5-1.

Seventh Inning Kentucky Leads 5-1

Auburn baseball's Bobby Peirce vs Alabama. — Taylor Sondgeroth/Auburn Athletics

Pitching change for the Wildcats. Harney is on to Pitch. He will have a tall task facing DiChiara.

DiChiara is hit by a pitch which gives Auburn a man on with no one out.

Rambusch grounds into a fielder's choice. Peirce is up with one on and one out.

Peirce also grounds into a fielder's choice but beats it out to keep it from being a double play.

Two down one out for Carlson.

Carlson fly's out and the Tigers are retired in the seventh.

We head to the bottom of the seventh with Kentucky still leading 5-1.

Isbell is in to pitch for the Tigers in the seventh.

Isbell issues a quick four pitch walk and Tim Hudson is out to talk with him.

Isbell gets a strikeout. Man on first with one out.

A flyout is the second out of the inning. Still a man on first.

Peirce made a great play in left field to record the second out of the inning.

Isbell gets a strikeout to end the inning.

Tigers really need to get the bats going here to give themselves a shot.

We head to the top of the eighth with Kentucky leading 5-1.

Sixth Inning Kentucky Leads 4-0

Auburn baseball's Tommy Sheehan vs Alabama. — Taylor Sondgeroth/Auburn Athletics

Carlson leads off the inning for the Tigers with a strikeout.

One down for Howell.

Howell gives the Tigers their second hit of the day. One on one out for Land.

Interesting note: The Kentucky reliever Harper has been very aggressive to everyone in the Tiger lineup except DiChiara. He has had a lot of 0-2 counts in his appearance thus far.

A one out single from Land gives the Tigers men on first and second with one out. LaRue steps to the plate trying to get Auburn on the board.

LaRue is down on strikes. Still two one with two out for Farquhar.

A two out knock from Farquhar gives the Tigers their first run of the day. Men on second and third for Moore. Kentucky still leads 4-1.

Moore grounds out on an excuse me swing. We head to the bottom of the sixth.

Sheehan issues a leadoff walk in the bottom of sixth.

The runner moves over to second on a passed ball.

Chase Isbell is in the pen warming up for the Tigers.

A base hit scores the runner from second. Kentucky leads 5-1.

Still, no one out in the inning and a man on first.

Flyout to Land in left is the first out of the inning.

A charging Howell catches the second out of the inning for the Tigers.

A third flyout ends the inning. We head to the top of the seventh with Kentucky leading 5-1.

Fifth Inning Kentucky Leads 4-0

Auburn baseball's Brody Moore against Middle Tennessee State. — Auburn Athletics

Moore leads off the inning with a ground out to the third baseman.

One down for DiChiara.

DiChiara draws his second walk of the game.

One man on for Rambusch.

Rambusch fly's one to the shorts stop.

Two out one man on for Peirce.

Peirce strikes out and we head to the bottom of the fifth with Kentucky still leading 4-0.

Sheehan is on to pitch for the Tigers.

Lineout to Farquhar is the first out of the inning for Sheehan and the Tigers.

Strikeout is the second out of the inning for Sheehan.

Great play from Rambusch ends the inning.

That inning looked really good for Sheehan. He had the hitters guessing and got ahead in every count.

The Tigers only have one hit in the game so for a comeback to happen the bats will have to wake up.

We head to the top of the sixth with Kentucky still leading 4-0.

Fourth Inning Kentucky leads 2-0

A leadoff walk to Carlson gets Auburn its first leadoff man aboard this game.

Howell gets the runner to second on a sacrifice bunt. Man in scoring position for Land with one down.

A walk to Land and we have men on first and second for LaRue still only one man down.

Pitching change for the Wildcats. Daniel Harper will come in to face LaRue.

Runners advance to second and third after a wild pitch.

LaRue strikes out on a questionable strike three call.

A Farquhar flyout strands the runners on second and third.

We head to the bottom of the Fourth with the Wildcats still leading 2-0.

A leadoff double gets the Wildcats a runner in scoring position with no one out.

The umpires are currently reviewing to see if the ball was a ground rule double or if the ball stayed in play. If the ball stayed in play the runner will be on third.

The ruling on the field is a ground rule double.

A ground out moves the runner over to third. Barnett will try to work around the jam and keep the run from scoring.

John Armstrong and Tommy Sheehan are warming in the bullpen for the Tigers.

A base hit scores the runner from third. Man on first with only one out. Kentucky now leads 3-0.

John Armstrong is in to pitch for the Tigers.

Armstrong comes in and quickly records a strikeout. Two out and a man on first.

A two out double extends the Kentucky lead to 4-0.

Strikeout ends the inning. We head to the top of the fifth.

Third Inning Kentucky leads 2-0

Auburn baseball's Sonny Dichiara vs Arkansas. — Matthew Shannon/Auburn Athletics

DiChiara hit one hard right at the shift for the first out of the inning.

A Rambusch ground out to the second basemen is the second out of the inning.

Peirce grounds out to the first baseman and we head to the bottom of the third with Kentucky still leading 2-0.

Barnett gets his second strikeout of the game to get the first out of the inning for the Tigers.

Another strikeout and there are two quick outs for the Tigers.

A third strikeout ends the third inning.

Barnett looked great that inning throwing lots of strikes and getting ahead early in counts. He needed that inning to keep his pitch count down.

We head to the fourth inning where the Tigers will hope to start some scoring.

Second Inning Kentucky leads 1-0

Auburn baseball's Natr LaRue vs Arkasnas — Grace Schinsing/Auburn Athletics

Land fly's out to start the top of the second inning.

Nate LaRue goes down on strikes. Two down for Farquhar.

Farquhar draws a two out walk Moore up to try and extend the inning.

Interesting note: The pitcher likes to throw the same pitch he threw to start the inning with two strikes.

Moore hits one sharply to the centerfielder to end the inning. We head to the bottom half of the second with Kentucky still leading 1-0.

Leadoff base hit gives Kentucky a baserunner.

Barnett is going deep in every count which has his pitch count in the 40's in the second inning.

Flyout to Howell in center gives Auburn its first out of the inning. The runner on first advanced to second on the flyout.

Athletic play from Barnett getting off the mound to get the groundball gives the Tigers their second out of the inning. Man on third for Kentucky's leadoff man.

Suicide squeeze is run to perfection by the Wildcats. Kentucky leads 2-0.

Ground out ends the inning. Tigers will look to get the bats going in the 3rd.

First Inning 0-0

Mason Barnett throws a pitch for Auburn baseball against Samford. — Jacob Taylor/Auburn Athletics

Let's get things rolling here as Auburn starts things off at the plate.

Brody Moore is thrown out at first for the first out.

The stadium might as well be empty.

Sonny DiChiara is walked.

Back-to-back walks for Auburn. Bobby Pierce is up to bat with guys on first and second. Voice of the Auburn Tigers Andy Burcham called him "Bobby Barrels" on the radio call.

Kentucky can't make the play in the outfield. Auburn has the bases loaded with just one out.

Brooks Carlson strikes out swinging for the second out of the inning. Bases loaded for Kason Howell.

Howell strikes out. Kentucky comes to the plate.

Interesting note: Auburn's first four batters all got first-pitch strikes.

Mason Barnett's fastball looks effective early.

Kentucky draws a walk. One out.

Interesting note: The turf infield had an effect on Rambusch on the chopper to third. He did not expect it to bounce like it did.

Fielder's choice to Rambusch means two out with a man on first.

Two out double gives Kentucky the 1-0 lead.

Barnett walks the hitter to give Kentucky men on first and second with two outs.

Tim Hudson out to talk with Barnett.

Strikeout ends the first inning. We head to the top of the second with Kentucky leading 1-0.

Pregame

Lineup Announced

Auburn Daily Checking in

Injury update

Auburn baseball's Cole Foster vs Arkansas Razorbacks. — Grace Schinsing/Auburn Athletics

Auburn Daily's Lindsay Crosby wrote the following update in his series preview.

Second baseman Cole Foster, suffering a strained oblique after a collision at home plate in game one of the Alabama series, is questionable for this weekend’s matchup. He traveled with the team and will test the back in pregame warmups, but true freshman Brody Moss is traveling to Lexington and will be activated to the 27-man roster if Foster is unable to go. Senior Garrett Farquhar got the start yesterday. He's expected to get the nod today as well.