Number 6 Auburn baseball pitched a stellar night on the mound and blasted a quartet of longballs en route to a 13-0 drubbing of Alabama State in seven innings on Tuesday night at Plainsman Park.
Auburn recorded 17 hits on the night, led by Brandon McCraine with four, his first four-hit game of the season after a trio of three-hit contests. Chris Rembert ended the night one longball shy of the cycle, while Eric Guavara recorded five RBIs with a pair of two-run homers. Bub Terrell and Lucas Steele both blasted home runs, with three and two RBIs, respectively.
On the rubber, Auburn’s pitching staff combined for nine strikeouts and did not allow an Alabama State baserunner until the seventh inning – a one-out single to left field. The Hornets recorded two hits in the seventh, their only baseknocks of the game.
After making his season debut last Tuesday against Jacksonville State, Griffin Graves toed the rubber for his first career start. He tossed three scoreless frames, retiring every Hornet he faced with two strikeouts and 24 total strikes in 35 pitches and earning the win.
Jett Johnston relieved him in the fourth and retired every batter he faced in two frames with three strikeouts before handing it to Abe Chancellor for a scoreless sixth, where he struck out the side.
Ethan Harden took the rubber for the seventh inning and escaped the inning unscathed after putting runners on the corners with two outs.
Auburn plated a run in five of its six plate appearances, highlighted by five runs in the fourth and four in the sixth.
Bristol Carter scored in the first after sending a 2-2 liner up the middle and stealing a pair of bases before Guevara sent a sacrifice fly to center field.
Guevara blasted his eighth double of the year off the wall in right-center field with one out in the third frame, and Rembert traded places with him for the ninth double of his sophomore campaign to push the Tigers ahead 2-0.
The Tigers scored five runs on five hits – four runs on a pair of two-run homers – in the fourth frame. McCraine scored the first on a groundout to the catcher. Guevara sent his sixth homer of the year out on a 1-2 count, scoring two runs before Terrell crushed a 416-foot bomb over the batter's eye for two more runs.
Auburn added a pair of runs in the fifth on back-to-back bases-loaded walks before plating four runs in the sixth. Lucas Steele blasted a two-run shot over the wall in right field before Guevra pummeled his second of the night over the War Eagle Wall to cap off an electric night at the dish.
Ethan Harden tossed the seventh for the Tigers and gave up a one-out single – the Hornets’ first hit of the game – and a two-out walk before retiring the last Alabama State batter of the night.
Auburn begins a three-game series at Florida on Thursday with first pitch set for 6 p.m.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email [email protected].
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every day.
