MONTGOMERY, Ala. | South Alabama connected on three home runs, including a pair from
Colson Lawrence, but it wasn't enough as the Jags fell to Auburn 6-5 at Montgomery's Riverwalk Stadium on Tuesday night.
Lawrence finished the night 2-for-4 with a pair of two-run home runs, while
Cole Ketzner hit his first home run of the season in back-to-back fashion with Lawrence in the eighth inning to trim the deficit to one.
Erick Orbeta finished 2-for-5, while Ketzner picked up a pair in the loss for South Alabama (8-13).
Sam Knowlton (1-1) suffered his first loss of the season in his first start, working 2.2 innings and allowing three runs on five hits with a pair of strikeouts. He was one of six different pitchers used on the night by South Alabama, including Lawrence who worked the final 1.1 innings of hitless relief.
How It Happened
- (B3) Kason Howell broke the scoreless tie with a three-run home run to left to give the Tigers the lead, Auburn 3-0.
- (B4) Carter Wright singled to left center to drive in a run, before Howell added another RBI with a single through the left side, Auburn 5-0.
- (T7) Colson Lawrence hit his fifth home run of the season to left center to score Mitchell Heer and put the Jags on the board, Auburn 5-2.
- (B7) Cole Foster hit a sacrifice fly to right to drive in a run, Auburn 6-2.
- (T8) Lawrence hit his second home run, a 415-foot blast to left for a two-run shot before Cole Ketzner hit a 341-foot blast down the line to get the Jags to within one, Auburn 6-5.
Quotable from head coach Mark Calvi
Talk about the game in general …
"We did a lot of things right, just not enough offense early. We had men in scoring position early in the game, we left some runners at third with less than two outs. We had a chance to put two or three on them in the first four innings and it got us in the end. They are going to score some runs, we pitched fine and walked just one, we made a couple of 0-2 mistakes and that will hurt you against a good team and it did today. We had some scoring opportunities early in the game and that got us late in the game. We had a ball get to the backstop that moved a runner to third, a fly ball that was an RBI instead of a guy at second base, so it's still the little things that are shooting us in the foot. But we had our opportunities. It's bad when you are playing the game and not making opportunities. We've had a lot of games not go our way that we have had opportunities to do some things to put a team away. We haven't been able to do it and that's the disappointing thing. We have some guys in position, we just haven't stuck a dagger in. We haven't learned how to stick a dagger in."
Colson had a great night …
"Colson is a gifted player, with a lot of tools. If he can have discipline in the strike zone, you will really see him take off and be the hitter that he can be. He has done better, but when he can have some discipline, he is a very dangerous baseball player. He has power, he has speed, low to mid-90s on the mound with a breaking ball. It was good to see him have a good night."
You don't like moral victories, but you have to feel better heading into the weekend …
"Wins make me feel better. I would rather win ugly than lose pretty. At this point, I am in my 30th year, there are no moral victories. You win, you lose. You judge them on effort and competitiveness. Our effort has been really good this year, our execution has not. They practice hard, they do things right on and off the field, they compete. We just have to keep plugging away. You create your own luck. If luck is a thing, it's no fluke that people in this world who work hard tend to be luckier than those that don't. This team needs to continue to work hard and hopefully some good fortune will come its way."
Up Next
The Jags return to action this weekend in Sun Belt Conference hosting Louisiana in a three-game series at Eddie Stanky Field beginning with first pitch on Friday at 6:30 pm.
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