In a weekend full of weather delays, No. 10 Auburn picked up its sixth conference series win of the year as it took two of three games against No. 12 Tennessee at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
“I’m impressed by both ballclubs,” said Auburn head coach after game two’s suspension. “This has been challenging weather from the start. Both teams are just fighting for every pitch. I’m really impressed with the resiliency of our guys, even in game two.”
The Tigers picked up a 6-1 win in game one, fell 6-5 in extra innings in game two and secured the series with an 8-1 win in the rubber match.
Here is a recap of the Tigers’ weekend:
Game one
Game one of the series saw half an inning played on Friday night before a weather delay caused the teams to pick up in the bottom of the first on Saturday. Prior to the delay, Ike Irish gave Auburn an early edge with a two-run home run – his 12th of the season – en route to a 6-1 win.
Sam Dutton received the ball for the Tigers in game one and continued his stellar play as he retired the first 13 batters he faced with six strikeouts during the stretch. He went on to retire 20 of the 22 batters he faced.
“Dutton has been so consistent for us,” Thompson said. “Not only did he do another amazing job, but he got us into the seventh inning, and what it allowed us to do was go straight to (Ryan) Hetzler. You have a chance to win at the end of the first game with Dutton and Hetzler throwing against a top-10 team, and you do not walk a batter. That gives you a good chance to win on the road.”
A pair of bunt singles from Chris Rembert and Cade Belyeu and an RBI-single from Irish tacked on to the Tigers’ lead in the third, and Cooper McMurray’s 10th home run of the season gave them a four-run cushion in the fourth.
Tennessee got on the scoreboard with back-to-back doubles in the seventh to make it a 4-1 game. Ryan Hetzler entered with the runner in scoring position, but sat down Reese Chapman with three pitches to get out of the inning.
Rembert started the eighth frame with a solo shot to right to get the run back and added another run in the ninth on a wild pitch.
Hetzler earned his seventh save of the season in relief of Dutton, who earned his sixth win of the season.
Game two
With the game knotted at three to start the ninth frame, Eric Guevara doubled to lead off the inning and Deric Fabian entered to pinch run with no outs. As Fabian broke for third two at-bats later, Chase Fralick singled over the first baseman's head to give the Tigers a one-run lead with three outs to go.
However, Tennessee’s Dalton Bargo homered to left field in the home half of the ninth to tie it up, and ultimately force extra innings, at four before the weather forced yet another delay into Sunday.
The Volunteers walked it off in the 11th inning, as an RBI single in a bases-loaded situation gave them a 6-5 win.
Auburn jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first as Rembert started the game with a double and scored on an RBI single from Irish. The junior moved to second on a ground ball to the right side and stole third before scoring on a two-out single from Lucas Steele.
In his second collegiate start, Cam Tilly held Tennessee scoreless for the first two frames before it loaded the bases in the third with a double and back-to-back walks. The Volunteers tied the game with Hunter Ensley’s two-run single to right center.
The Tigers reclaimed the lead in the fifth as Irish reached on an error, stole two bases and scored on a wild pitch.
With Carson Myers on the mound, Tennessee recorded back-to-back singles in the seventh to end Myers’ outing at 3.1 innings with six strikeouts. The Volunteers scored one run on a sacrifice fly after John Armstrong entered from the bullpen, but Armstrong ended the inning with a strikeout to alleviate further damage.
Two more Tennessee batters reached on a leadoff single and two-out walk in the eighth, but Parker Carlson entered in relief of Armstrong and recorded a strikeout on three pitches to strand them both before the aforementioned ninth inning blast from Bargo ultimately sent things to extra innings.
Game Three
A pair of multi-run innings powered the Tigers to a 7-1 win in game three to secure the series.
Both squads were held scoreless for the first two frames, but Auburn put up four runs on five hits in the third inning to set the pace for the rest of the way.
Fralick, Eric Snow and Rembert led off the third with a trio of singles to load the bases. Fralick scored on a wild pitch, and Belyeu followed with a single to center to drive in Snow. Rembert scored on a fielder's choice and Irish was plated on a sacrifice fly.
Auburn extended its lead to seven with three more runs in the fifth as Rembert and Belyeu opened up the frame with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners, and Irish drew a walk to load the bases. A pair of walks plated Rembert and Belyeu, and Fralick singled through the right side to score Irish, but Steele, who reached on a walk, was thrown out at home trying to score from second.
Tennessee got on the board in the home half of the inning with a solo-home run off the bat of Cannon Peebles for its only run of the contest, and Auburn added another in the seventh as Steele recorded his third RBI of the game with a single through the right side that scored Irish who led off the inning with a walk.
The duo of Christian Chatterton and Cade Fisher held the Volunteers to four hits as the tandem recorded seven strikeouts in the seven-inning affair. Chatterton turned in his fourth straight scoreless start in three innings of work, surrendering two hits and recording two strikeouts for his fourth win of the season. Fisher entered on his heels in the fourth to record the save with five strikeouts on two hits and a run given up.
The Tigers will return to action with a three-game series against South Carolina beginning on Thursday at Plainsman Park. First pitch for Thursday is set for 7 p.m., Friday’s for 6 p.m and Saturday’s finale set for 2:30 p.m
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