LEXINGTON ? The Kentucky baseball team stranded the tying run on second base in the bottom of the ninth inning as its comeback effort fell short in a 4-3 loss to No. 23 on Sunday afternoon at Applebee?s Park.
With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 18-16 overall and 2-12 in the Southeastern Conference. Kentucky has yet to win a league series this year. The Tigers improved to 25-14 this season, including 8-7 in the league.
Trailing 4-1 going into the eighth, Shuan Lehmann brought Kentucky to within one with a two-run home run to left. The lined shot, which was his fourth of the year, scored John Shelby from second.
?I was just trying to hit it up the middle like coach Cohen teaches,? Lehmann said. ?I got a good pitch to hit. He hung a slider and I got it on a good piece of the bat.?
Lehmann?s homer was just the fourth hit of the day for Kentucky, which finished with only five total. However, the Wildcats found ways on base by drawing five walks and being hit by three pitches.
Cliff Mullins got the start for Auburn but was yanked after just 1 2/3 innings after walking three and giving up one hit. Grant Cardwell replaced him and shut down Kentucky over 3 1/3 innings to earn the win. He allowed a single hit ? a single by John Shelby ? and struck out two while walking none.
?You have to credit Auburn and their pitching staff,? Kentucky coach John Cohen said. ?They are very solid, but at the same time we have to continue to get experience and get a little better.?
Most of the Kentucky base runners were left there as the Wildcats stranded 11 in the game, including leaving the bases loaded in both the first and second while only scoring a single run. The 11th and final runner left on base was Michael Bertram, who was the tying run after doubling in the ninth.
?You can?t ask for anything more in the last at bat than to hit it hard, which we did,? Cohen said. ?We just couldn?t string it together today. We get the winning run at the plate and the tying run on second base and we hit a bullet. As a team, that?s all you can do, so we feel good about that.?
Meanwhile, Auburn was peppering the ball to the tune of 11 hits and putting a man on base in every inning but the ninth. The Tigers scored the game?s first run in the visiting half of the first inning when Tyler Johnstone singled to lead off and came home on a ground out.
Kentucky answered in the second as Billy Grace was hit by a pitch with the sacks full to force home Lehmann, who was also tagged by a pitch earlier in the inning. Antone DeJesus and J.B. Schmidt drew walks in between to load the bases.
Auburn retook the lead with a run in the third on Josh Bell?s RBI double and Josh Donaldson gave the Tigers some cushion with a solo home run in the sixth for a 3-1 lead.
Freshman starter Andrew Albers was chased after 3 1/3 and took the loss despite only allowing two runs on five hits. Freshman Alex Jordan came on to work 3 2/3 solid innings. He gave up Auburn?s final two runs on five hits, but kept Kentucky in the game while the Wildcat offense attempted to solve Cardwell.
Four pitchers worked the final two innings for Kentucky without allowing a run.
?We threw five freshmen pitchers today. All those guys are going to gain experience and get better,? Cohen said. ?These guys will take something away from today?s game that will make them better players down the road.?
Trailing by two entering the sixth, the Wildcats finally mounted a rally only to have it snuffed out by a tremendous running catch by centerfielder Bruce Edwards. After J.P. Lowen walked and Ryan Wilkes singled to put two on, DeJesus laced a shot deep in the gap in right-centerfield. However, Edwards came all the way from where he had set up in left-center to make the grab on the warning track and preserve the lead for Auburn.
Edwards made inning-ending grabs in each of the final four innings, including on Kevin Caldwell?s lined shot with two outs in the ninth. The final out was recorded by Michael Nix, who worked the final 2 1/3 and gave up two runs on two hits to earn his second save of the series and 10th overall.
Kentucky returns to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. when it hosts Northern Kentucky in a game added to the schedule just this weekend. The Wildcats travel to Cincinnati Wednesday before taking to the road for a three-game set next weekend at Mississippi State.
