Next Game: Auburn 4/21/2018 | 5 p.m. SEC Network +

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama baseball suffered a 19-5 loss to 25th-ranked Auburn on Friday night in front of a sellout crowd at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Following the series opener, the Crimson Tide is 22-18 overall and 5-11 in Southeastern Conference play.

"It was a really tough night for us," said Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon . "We really competed well through the first four innings of the game. Sam Finnerty has been great for us all year, but he wasn't as sharp in the middle of the game as he has been, and we didn't help him much defensively. The game just kind of unraveled on us."

The Tigers got on the board with one in the top of the first and added another run in the fourth. Alabama took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with three runs, but Auburn answered with five in the fifth and seventh along with a six-run sixth and one in the ninth to secure the win. The Tide plated single tallies in the seventh and eighth innings but would get no closer.

Auburn struck first in Friday's series opener, scoring one in the top of the first. After starting off the game with a double to left, the AU leadoff man moved up to third on a groundout in the next at-bat. Another groundout in the inning brought in the game's first run, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead. The Tigers added one more in the fourth, using a solo home run to make it a 2-0 game.

Alabama responded in the home half of the fourth with three runs of their own to gain the 3-2 advantage. The Tide fourth began with a single to center from junior Joe Breaux . Following the leadoff man was Chandler Avant , with the senior sending a double down the line in left to put two in scoring position. After junior Chandler Taylor loaded the bases with a walk, senior Hunter Alexander cleared them with a double down the third base line for three runs.

Auburn collected 16 runs across the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to regain the lead and put the game out of reach. In the fifth, the Tigers used a pair of singles and a catcher's interference to load the bases before a single to left scored a pair, giving the Tigers the lead once again. A three-run home run in the next at-bat increased the advantage to 7-3 for Auburn. The Tigers scored six runs in the sixth to make it a 13-3 game and used a five-run seventh inning to push the lead to 18-3, heading into the seventh inning stretch.

Alabama added single tallies in the seventh and eighth to trim the deficit. Matt Malkin began the seventh with a double to center before advancing to third on an errant relay throw. The junior came across to score in the next at-bat, thanks to an infield groundout, making it an 18-4 contest. In the eighth, senior Cody Henry notched his second home run of the season, sending a solo shot to left-center to trim the margin to 18-5. Auburn plated one more run in the ninth to set the score at 19-5, the eventual final.

The Crimson Tide offense collected five runs on nine hits with five of those hits going for extra bases. Breaux and freshman Sam Praytor led UA with two-hit games, as Breaux finished 2-for-4 with one run, while Praytor went 2-for-3 with a double and one walk. Alexander led the Tide in RBI with three thanks to his bases-clearing double in the fourth.

"I told the team that we can't let one loss turn into two," added Bohannon. "We can't bring this to the park tomorrow, and hopefully we can put nine innings together like we did through the first four tonight."

Alabama looks to even the series on Saturday night in game two of the series, which is scheduled for a 7 p.m. CT first pitch. The Crimson Tide will call on senior right-hander Jake Walters in the start while the Tigers will counter with freshman righty Tanner Burns. Fans can catch all of the action on SEC Network.

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