05/26 at 05:17 PM

HOOVER — The storm clouds began to gather in earnest around the sixth inning of Auburn’s SEC Tournament clash with Georgia on Thursday, one that featured two teams needing a win to keep their NCAA hopes alive.

Regions Park managed to avoid the deluge. Auburn could not.

The Tigers watched their two-run lead evaporate during a three-run sixth for the Bulldogs, all they’d need to hand Auburn a 3-2 loss that ended its SEC Tournament run.

And its season.

At 29-29, the Tigers don’t meet the minimum record requirement for inclusion in the NCAA Tournament.

“When the season ends abruptly, there’s a lot of emotions going through our team right now,” Auburn coach John Pawlowski said. “It’s obviously frustrating. For a number of reasons.”

Georgia (29-29), which had been held in check by Auburn starter Derek Varnadore for the first five innings, started the sixth with a single by Levi Hyams, who came around to score on a Zach Cone double three batters later to cut the Tigers’ lead to 2-1.

Chase Davidson followed with an RBI groundout to tie the score, and Cone came around to score as shortstop Casey McElroy’s throw to first skipped in the dirt and got away from Kevin Patterson, giving the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.

That proved to be enough for Bulldogs starter Alex Wood (5-7), who gave up two runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and three walks in a full nine innings of work.

The sophomore lefty threw 124 pitches in his first career complete game, but appeared to get stronger as the game wore on, retiring 11 of the final 12 Auburn batters and allowing only one hit after the fifth inning.

“I didn’t know I threw that many pitches,” Wood said. “I felt like I threw a lot less than that.”

That’s not to say Auburn never had its chances.

McElroy put the Tigers up 1-0 with a solo home run to start the fourth, a liner to straightaway center that cleared the wall — 405 feet from the plate — with room to spare.

Auburn also put runners on first and third with nobody out, when Tony Caldwell doubled and Wes Gilmer reached on a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt, but Wood wriggled out of the jam with two strikeouts and a groundout.

“Missed opportunities like that, especially against anybody in this league, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, it’s going to be tough for you,” said Patterson, one of the strikeout victims. “That’s on me.”

Auburn extended its lead to 2-0 on a two-out rally in the fifth, with Creede Simpson and McElroy drawing walks and Caldwell bringing Simpson in with an RBI single.

Then the storm clouds began to gather.

And, within four short innings, the Tigers’ season was over.

“We certainly had some opportunities, but got caught in some situations where we couldn’t put the ball in play,” Pawlowski said. “Disappointing, obviously.”

Georgia’s 9-hole hitter, Peter Verdin, went 3-for-4 on the game, and Conor Welton, Curt Powell and Brandon Stephens each added two hits.

McElroy went 2-for-3, and Caldwell, in his final Auburn game, went 2-for-4 with a double.

Varnadore (6-3), who threw a complete-game shutout against Georgia on May 7, gave up three runs — two earned — on 10 hits, with five strikeouts and a walk in 6 1/3 innings.

Georgia takes on the Vanderbilt/South Carolina winner Friday, still needing two wins to sew up a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Auburn, which lost six of its last seven games, finally ran out of chances.

“I thought we had a good squad. For sure didn’t end the way I wanted it to end,” Patterson said. “I thought we had a squad that could go to the regional or super regional.

“It didn’t work out, so very disappointed.”