AUBURN – After giving up four runs in the first three frames, No. 4 Auburn baseball settled in and rode the strong pitching of reliever Carson Myers en route to a 9-5 win over Central Connecticut State in the first round of the Auburn Regional at Plainsman Park.
Running into one of the best lineups in the country – the Blue Devils ranked fourth in the country with a .331 batting average prior to Friday night's contest – Cam Tilly got the ball for his sixth start of the season but was limited to just one inning of work after giving up three runs on five hits, giving way to Myers out of the bullpen in the second. After an outstanding performance a week ago in the Tigers’ second-round loss in the SEC Tournament, the southpaw reliever struck out nine batters in six innings of work to earn his third win of the season, giving up six hits along the way.
“I thought when Carson got in the ballgame, he just got better and better each inning. I thought he was a huge difference in the ball game tonight, to steady us, let us reset and settle into the tempo of the game. I think everybody was pretty excited to get started, and we were able to build the lead. And I thought as he pitched, I thought the ball settled more, moved more, some of that early juice got out of him and I thought he pitched great,” said Auburn head coach Butch Thompson.
The Tigers, hitting .338 and outscoring opponents 269-139 inside the friendly confines of Plainsman Park, drew first blood in their half of the first with four runs. With one out, Ike Irish ripped a double down the line in right to put two in scoring position. A one-out walk loaded the bases and Lucas Steele drove in a run on a single through the right side. Two consecutive singles from Eric Snow and Bub Terrell scored one and two runs, respectively, giving the Tigers a four-run cushion.
After Auburn got out of a bases-loaded situation in the first inning unscathed, Central Connecticut cut into the Tigers’ lead in the top half of the second. A two-RBI single and an infield single gave the Blue Devils a three-run frame.
With the Blue Devils knotting things up at four in the top of the third with one run, Auburn put up another four-spot in its half of the third. Steele led off the frame with a no-doubt solo blast to right field that left the bat at 110 MPH. Snow drew a walk and moved to third on a single from Bub Terrell, but scored on an errant throw. With Chase Fralick following with a wall-banging double off the wall in center, Chris Rembert plated Terrell on a screamer to left field. Another run scored on an infield groundout to push the Tigers ahead by four runs.
With Myers’ one run relinquished in the third, it was all the offense the Tigers needed, but they plated one more in the fourth on a sacrifice fly to left that scored Snow, who led the inning off with a triple.
Parker Carlson entered in the eighth, giving up one run on an RBI-single that followed a leadoff double in the frame. He held the Blue Devils scoreless in the ninth, giving the Tigers their 12th regional win under Thompson’s tutelage.
Auburn will take on Stetson on Saturday night at 8 p.m. in round two of the Auburn Regional at Plainsman Park.
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