AUBURN — It’s becoming a familiar story for the Auburn baseball team.

A midweek series against a small-conference opponent. A parade of pitchers out of the Tigers’ bullpen.

And yet another loss for Auburn.

The script held true Tuesday against Troy. Auburn’s bullpen couldn’t overcome a few rough innings, and the offense couldn’t erase an early deficit as Troy claimed a 6-3 win.

Auburn has lost nine of its last 11 games, including three consecutive midweek contests.
Troy (27-19) entered the game allowing almost six runs per game — seemingly the perfect tonic for Auburn’s up-and-down offense.

But AU (24-22) couldn’t get anything going. The Tigers managed just six hits and weren’t able to put together a rally.

“They come in with a 5-something ERA, and we muster six hits and three runs,” Auburn coach Tom Slater said. “Not a very good night at the plate for us, at all.”

Troy didn’t have that problem. The Trojans hammered Auburn’s pitchers for 17 hits, including two home runs by catcher Beau Brooks.

Brooks did not play much during Saturday’s doubleheader against Louisiana-Lafayette, but he was strong on Tuesday.

“I guess the rest helped a little, but it was more a matter of listening to what Coach Pierce told me,” Brooks said. “He’s been telling me to stay back more and be patient and I did that a little better tonight. Hopefully, this will carry over into the rest of the season.”

Auburn reliever Michael Hurst (2-4) bore the brunt of that damage.

The game was tied at 1 when Hurst replaced Luke Greinke to start the fourth inning. But the sophomore gave up four hits in the inning, including an RBI single by Steven Felix and a two-run double by Bryan Miller.

Kevin Patterson responded with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Tigers couldn’t come any closer.

Troy reliever Drew Hull (4-0), a former Auburn High star, allowed one unearned run in three innings of relief to earn the victory.

Auburn begins a three-game weekend series against Mississippi State on Friday at Plainsman Park.

First baseman Hunter Morris, who missed Sunday’s series finale at Alabama, didn’t play Tuesday. Slater said he was “hopeful” Morris would play first base Friday, but said he expected the freshman to be healthy enough to be the Tigers’ designated hitter if he can’t play the field.

Left-hander Cory Luckie will undergo an MRI today to determine the nature of a forearm injury he suffered Saturday. The freshman isn’t expected to play this weekend.