No. 5 Auburn cruised to a 17-2 run-rule victory over in-state foe UAB on Tuesday night at Plainsman Park, extending its winning streak to seven games.
The Tigers scored all 17 runs in the first five frames, plating three or more on three different occasions. Auburn recorded 16 hits and four doubles with four longballs.
Eric Guevara paced the Tigers with a 4-for-4 showing at the plate, with their one through five hitters going 12-for-19 with 12 runs, three home runs and nine RBIs – eight of nine plays in Auburn’s lineup drove in a run.
Auburn tallied four runs in the first inning and didn’t slow down as the team totaled two more in the second, five in the third, one in the fourth and five more in the fifth to cap off the scoring by matching a season high with 17 runs.
UAB answered Auburn’s hot start with a pair of unearned runs after a passed ball and an error in the field in the top half of the second, but a two-run blast from Chase Fralick gave Auburn a 6-2 edge.
The Tigers scored five runs on five hits – a season high – in the third as Chris Rembert drove in a pair on a double and Guevara launched a 414-foot bomb over the wall in center for his fourth home run in the last seven games.
Bub Terrell followed the next at-bat with a solo shot of his own.
Ethin Bingaman doubled in the fourth to plate Mason McCraine, who reached on a hit by pitch to leadoff the inning.
In the fifth, McCraine drove home a run before Lucas Steele went long for an emphatic grand slam to end the night.
Andreas Alvarez improved to 2-1 on the rubber after allowing two runs in five innings. LJ Cormier followed Alvarez and struck out the side in the sixth, before Connor Gatwood turned in a scoreless seventh.
Auburn will hit the road to open up conference play with a weekend series against Missouri, beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. on SECN+.
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