UK Baseball Falls at Auburn, 5-2

Box Score (PDF) | Game Notes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sophomore first baseman Evan White continued his hot streak at the plate, but the Kentucky baseball team lost 5-2 on the road at Auburn in SEC action on Friday night.

White had two hits, including a triple, in four trips to the plate. In his last two games, White is now six for his last nine, including a triple and a home run. In the process, he has raised his season batting average to .358, which leads the team.

Cole Lipscomb went the distance for Auburn (19-23, 6-13 SEC), giving up just one earned run in nine innings of action. Lipscomb held Kentucky to five hits while allowing no walks and striking out three.

Auburn notched a run in the bottom of the first inning off of Kentucky starting pitcher Zack Brown. But the Wildcats had the answer in the top of the second inning. Junior third baseman JaVon Shelby reached on an error, then advanced to third on a single by second baseman Luke Becker. And when freshman Tristan Pompey grounded out to first, the Cats tied the game 1-1.

Auburn broke the tie in the bottom of the fourth inning when Anfernee Grier hit a three-run homer off of Brown, giving the Tigers a 4-1 advantage.

Kentucky (26-16, 10-9) struck back with a single run in the fifth. With two outs in the frame, Evan White tripled to right-center field, then scored on a wild pitch to pull the Cats within 4-2.

But in the sixth inning, Grier struck again, this time with a run-scoring single to center field, knocking in Damon Haecker to make it 5-2 Auburn.

Brown (2-8) went six innings for the Cats, allowing a season-high 12 hits, along with five earned runs. He walked two and struck out three in the game. 

Zach Pop was effective in relief for the Cats, pitching two innings and giving up no runs, one hit and one walk, throwing 18 pitches to get six outs.

The two teams return to Plainsman Park for the second game of the weekend series at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday. Kentucky will start Dustin Beggs, while Auburn will go with Justin Camp in the game that can be seen nationally on the SEC Network.