Next Game: Kentucky 3/30/2018 | 6 p.m. SEC Network+

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The 10th installment of the MAX Capital City Classic saw Alabama baseball fall, 5-2, to Auburn on Tuesday evening in Montgomery. After tonight's game, the annual non-conference series favors the Tigers, 9-1. The Crimson Tide is now 16-10 overall on the season.

"Auburn beat us in every facet of the game tonight," said Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon . "They had better at-bats. They pitched better. Obviously, their defense played a huge role as well with (Jay) Estes making some great plays in center to keep us from starting a rally. We've had a real problem getting down big early, and that hurt us again tonight."

Auburn put up a four-spot in the second to put the game out of reach. All four runs came off Alabama starter Mason Duke (2-1), who suffered the loss after the junior worked 1.2 innings. The Crimson Tide battled for one in the sixth but was matched by the Tigers' one tally in the seventh. Alabama scored one in more in the top of the eighth and had the tying run at the plate but was unable to come away with the win.

The Tigers used two homers to plate four run in the bottom of the second to take an early 4-0 lead. A one-out double and a single put two on before the first Auburn home run, a three-RBI shot. One out later, AU tallied a solo home run to increase its lead to four after two innings of play.

Alabama got on the board in the sixth. Junior Chandler Taylor walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. In that same at-bat, senior Chandler Avant singled up the middle to score Taylor, setting the score at 4-1. The Tigers would get the run right back in the next inning, using a solo home run to widen the lead to four again at a 5-1 tally.

The Crimson Tide battled for one more run in the eighth. With two down, a walk to sophomore Walker McCleney gave Alabama a baserunner. A pair of singles, first from senior Cody Henry followed by one from sophomore John Trousdale , scored Alabama's second run to make it a 5-2 game, the eventual final.

Alabama will return home to Sewell-Thomas Stadium this weekend for a three-game series with the No. 7 Kentucky Wildcats. Friday's opener is set for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch and will be followed by a 2 p.m. start on Saturday and a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday. All three games will air live on SEC Network+.

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