The trio of Christian Chatterton, Andreas Alvarez and Ryan Hetzler on the mound paved the way for No. 11 Auburn’s second consecutive midweek shutout in a 3-0 win over Samford on Tuesday night at the Hoover Met.
Chatterton, who received his fourth straight midweek start, posted a season-high 10 strikeouts – the most by an Auburn freshman since 2014, a feat he tied against Baylor earlier in the season with nine strikeouts – in six innings of work to earn his third win of the season. The standout freshman has not allowed an earned run in three straight starts, spanning 16 innings.
“It's a huge honor to be given any role that they've given me throughout this year,” said Chatterton. “So being able to contribute and help the team in any way I can, whether it's midweek or weekend, means a lot to me.”
Chatterton’s freshman counterpart, Alvarez entered in the seventh inning and held the Bulldogs scoreless for two frames with three strikeouts and just one hit surrendered. Hetzler finished it off in the ninth by retiring the Bulldogs for his sixth save of the season.
The trio held an aggressive Samford offense to just two hits in the shutout. Entering the game, the Bulldogs had outscored their opponents by 78 runs this season and ranked in the nation’s top 50 with 90 doubles and 62 home runs.
“The pitching has really showed up in these midweek games here recently,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said.
The Tigers’ three runs on the night were highlighted by a Cade Belyeu two-run blast over the wall in center field on the second at-bat of the game.
“I was trying to loosen up and just put a good swing on the ball. Been working in the cages, kind of with my hips and stuff, and I just put a good swing on it,” said Belyeu.
Auburn scored an unearned run in the seventh on what looked to be a tailor-made inning-ending double play that ended with an errant throw to plate Rembert from second.
“They gave us six different pitchers, so they never got settled. And every time our guys came up, they had to face a new pitcher – which happens a lot in the midweek contest. And I thought a couple of their left-handers did a nice job to maybe keep us at bay,” said Thompson.
Auburn will take to the road for a three-game series against No. 12 Tennessee beginning on Friday. The first pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. CT on Friday and 5:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, and the series will conclude on Sunday with the first pitch set for noon CT.
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