AUBURN – The Auburn baseball team picked up its first series sweep dating back to February 2024 as it took down Wright State in three straight games.
The Tigers picked up an 11-0 run-rule victory on Friday, followed it up with another 11-1 run-rule win on Saturday and closed it out with a 9-4 win on Sunday.
Here’s a recap of the Tigers’ three-game series:
Game one
Auburn recorded its first shutout since 2023 and tallied 14 hits in seven innings to run-rule Wright State 11-0 on Friday afternoon at Plainsman Park.
The Tigers wasted no time lighting up the scoreboard as they shot out to an 8-0 lead in the first three frames, highlighted by a five-run first inning before adding one in the second and two more in the third.
“I just thought our at-bats were better,” said Auburn head coach Butch Thompson. “I think we got on time a little bit more. When you don’t let a pitcher out of the first inning, it winds up being a big deal. We struck in the second and in the third. That’s just us having better at-bats up and down the lineup.”
Ike Irish recorded an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to score Cade Belyeu, and Cooper McMurray drove in his fourth run with an RBI double to right field. Chris Rembert capped off the scoring efforts with an RBI single through the right side.
All nine players in the lineup collected a hit. McMurray and Bub Terrell combined to go 6-for-8 with four runs and seven RBIs. Terrell recorded his first collegiate home run with a three-run shot that flew off the bat at 109 MPH.
On the mound, Sam Dutton got the start and picked up the win with 5.2 scoreless innings, matching a career-high seven strikeouts. He retired 10 straight batters from the third inning until the top of the sixth, but the Raiders used back-to-back singles to run him from the game. John Armstrong made his appearance in relief and needed just one pitch to strand the two runners and keep the shutout intact.
Ryan Hetzler made his Auburn debut in the seventh, retiring the Raiders on 10 pitches in a perfect inning.
Game Two
Auburn secured its second consecutive run-rule win over the Raiders, claiming the series with an 11-1 win in seven innings on Saturday afternoon at Plainsman Park.
The Tigers’ pitching staff delivered another strong performance, allowing just one run on five hits with a walk and eight strikeouts. Alex Petrovic, Jackson Sanders and Dylan Watts threw 74% of their pitches for strikes, with the relievers issuing just eight balls in 46 pitches.
Sanders recorded his first win in 2.1 innings of work – he threw 20-of-21 pitches for strikes. Watts turned in two clean innings and Petrovic struck out five, giving up two hits in 2.2 innings.
“We threw 72 percent strikes yesterday. That was our watermark. We threw 74 percent strikes today,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “Petrovic stepped in and did a nice job. Sanders had the little flair to start off with, and he didn’t blink. I think he threw one ball. Then Dylan Watts was phenomenal today.”
The Tigers recorded 13 hits at the plate, including 12 singles, and drew seven walks. Four players had multiple hits, led by Ike Irish and Chase Fralick with three each.
“It’s just one of the many ways we can win, death by a thousand cuts today,” Irish said. “Another day it might be the longball and the extra-base hits that help us win. Today, it was just singles and walks. We did our job.”
After Wright State started the scoring efforts in the top of the third, it was all Auburn as the Tigers scored 11 unanswered runs in the next three frames.
Game Three
Striking first with two runs in the bottom of the first inning and extending its lead by three within the first four frames, Auburn answered a four-run push from Wright State by pulling away with back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the seventh and a pair of insurance runs in the eighth to secure the series sweep of Wright State on Sunday at Plainsman Park.
The Tigers went into the top of the sixth inning with a 5-1 lead, but a three-run blast off the bat of Cam Gilkerson narrowed the Tigers’ lead to 5-4.
In the bottom of the seventh, Bub Terrell blasted his second home run of the series with two outs, and Cole Edwards followed with a longball of his own that flew over the monster in left field, pushing the Tigers ahead by three. An inning later, Auburn scored two more as Derric Fabian singled to left field, scoring Eric Snow and Ike Irish.
Auburn lit up the scoreboard in the early goings as Irish recorded his first home run of the young season with a two-run shot to left center field. The Tigers added one more in the third on a Fabian RBI ground out and two more in the fourth on a two-run home run from Bristol Carter.
Auburn tallied four home runs on 14 hits.
On the mound, Christian Chatterton went 4.1 innings in his second start, striking out three and giving up a run on four hits. On Chatterons’ heels, Cam Tilly went 1.2 innings giving up three runs on three hits with three strikeouts. Jett Johnston recorded the win in two innings of work, giving up a hit and Hayden Murphy closed it out by retiring three of the four batters he faced in the ninth.
The Tigers are back in action on Tuesday for a midweek game against Samford at Plainsman Park with first pitch set for 6 p.m. The game will be streamed on SECN+.
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