Auburn baseball dropped five spots this week in the USA TODAY Baseball Coaches Poll falling from No. 12 to No. 17.
The Tigers were 1-3 last week with a 13-5 victory over South Alabama but were swept by No. 3 Georgia in Athens. The series against the Bulldogs concluded a seven-game road trip, and the Tigers will return home this week as they host UAB on Tuesday night. Auburn is currently 20-8 overall and 4-5 in SEC play.
On Tuesday night, Auburn defeated South Alabama 13-5. Right fielder Ike Irish picked up where he left off against Kentucky by having four hits featuring two home runs. Auburn featured eight different pitchers against the Jaguars, and Jett Johnson picked up his fourth win of the season. After starting the game down 2-0, Auburn scored three runs in the first inning. First baseman Cooper McMurray broke a 2-2 tie with a solo home run to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead. Auburn would add five more runs in the second inning featuring a two-run homerun by Cade Belyeu. Irish added a solo home run in the seventh.
The weekend did not go as well against the Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia outscored Auburn 24-14 over the three-game series with a 9-6 win in ten innings on Sunday. The Tigers struggled against pitcher Kolton Smith who went five innings and collected eight strikeouts. While Smith was on the mound, he gave up zero hits. Auburn did not score a run until the ninth inning when Bub Terrell scored on an Irish double.
Games two and three were much more competitive, with final scores of 11-7 and 9-6. In game two, the Tigers tied the game at six in the sixth inning when Chase Fralick hit a three-run home run with McMurray and Lucas Steele also scoring. Georgia would respond in the sixth when Christian Adams hit a three-run home run to give the Bulldogs a 9-6 lead. Irish would hit a solo home run in the seventh, but Auburn could not add any more runs.
Game three would go to extra innings. Auburn tied the game at four in the ninth inning when Bristol Carter scored an unearned run after Irish grounded out. They took a 6-4 lead in the 10th when Terrell hit a two-run home run. Slate Alford and Ryland Zaborowski scored to tie the game in the 10th. With Nolan McCarthy and Bryce Clavon on base, Daniel Jackson hit a three-run home run to end the game for a 9-6 Georgia win. Irish got the scoring started for Auburn in the first with a solo home run. He has seven home runs for the season.
The Tigers will now look to turn the page with a win at home versus UAB on Tuesday night. They will then host a weekend series against the Alabama Crimson Tide, ranked No. 8 this week. Also in the USA TODAY Baseball Coaches Poll from the SEC are Tennessee (No. 1), Arkansas (No. 2), Texas (No. 5), LSU (No. 6), Oklahoma (No. 9), Ole Miss (No. 10), and Vanderbilt (No. 20). Florida dropped out of the rankings after being ranked No. 23 last week.
This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Auburn baseball falls to No. 17 in USA TODAY Baseball Coaches Poll