AUBURN – The Auburn Tigers baseball team started off their 2025 campaign with a 2-1 series win against Holy Cross at newly-renovated Plainsman Park.
The Tigers picked up a 4-1 win on Friday night, dropped the middle game 4-2 and closed out the series with a 14-6 win in the rubber match on Sunday.
Here’s a recap of the Tigers’ three-game series:
Game One:
The Tigers picked up a 4-1 win in front of a record-breaking crowd at Plainsman Park on opening day highlighted by sophomore center fielder Cade Belyeus’ solo blast over the center field wall, the same day he lost his mother to cancer.
“One of the most inspiring things I have seen in 32 years,” head coach Butch Thompson said of Belyeu’s performance. “That is the storyline of this ball game, regardless of outcome or result. Staci wanted her son to play. I didn’t know how it would go, but he played an amazing game. It was pretty incredible.”
Cam Tilly took over for Cade Fisher, who started on the mound in his Auburn debut, and earned his first win of the season with 2.2 scoreless innings and a pair of strikeouts. Fisher struck out five batters in 3.1 innings, including a pair in the first inning and three in the third.
Carson Myers earned the second save of his career by holding Holy Cross scoreless in the final three innings, retiring nine of the 10 batters he faced.
The Tigers recorded nine hits at the plate, as Eric Snow, Derric Fabian and Belyeu recorded two each.
Game Two
The Tigers fell behind in the third inning and couldn’t recover in a 4-2 loss on Saturday. Auburn was only able to string together five hits, leaving eight runners stranded while recording three errors in the field.
Auburn got strong performances out of Sam Dutton, making his Auburn debut, as he struck out seven batters in his first four innings – a career-high. Jackson Sanders made his Auburn debut to start the sixth and got out of a troublesome inning unscathed as the freshman southpaw buckled down with a strikeout and double play before also throwing a scoreless seventh. Parker Carlson held Holy Cross scoreless in the eighth, but the Crusaders added an insurance run on a sacrifice fly after a leadoff walk and one-out double in the ninth with Hayden Murphy on the mound.
The Crusaders tallied seven hits on the night.
Bristol Carter led the Tigers at the plate, accounting for two of Auburn’s five hits, scoring both runs. The sophomore outfielder reached base three times and recorded three stolen bases. Cooper McMurray and Cade Belyeu recorded the only other hits for the Tigers.
Game Three:
The Tigers exploded for 14 runs behind a big home half of the sixth in which they scored five runs. Chase Fralick sparked the surge with a leadoff home run, followed up by a three-run blast from Cooper McMurray and an RBI single from Lucas Steele.
The Tigers continued to add insurance runs along the way, scoring five more in their final two at-bats. Auburn scored at least one run in every inning except the third and finished the night with 16 hits led by Cade Belyeu and Fralick with three apiece. Bristol Carter, Derric Fabian and McMurray each added two hits. Ike Irish, Eric Guevara, Eric Snow and Steele each tallied a hit.
In his collegiate debut, Christian Chatterton’s day was over after 5.1 innings of work. He gave up four runs on six hits while recording five strikeouts. Dylan Watts earned the win in relief, going one inning and giving up two runs with two strikeouts. Alex Petrovic went 1.2 innings and didn’t give up a hit as he escaped a bases-loaded situation in the seventh unscathed. Griffin Graves finished off the ninth with a quick one-two-three inning.
Up next is the Tigers’ first midweek game on Tuesday as they host Troy at 6 p.m. The game can be streamed on SECN+.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email logan.fowler@1819News.com.
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