No. 5 Auburn baseball began conference play with a clean sweep of Missouri at Taylor Stadium this weekend.
The series sweep marked Auburn’s first on the road to begin SEC play since 2010.
Auburn grinded out a 2-0 win in the series-opener on Friday, pulled out another gutsy 4-3 win in the first of Saturday’s twin bill, and controlled game three 9-2 in Saturday’s nightcap.
Here is a recap of the Tigers’ weekend:
Game one
Pitchers Jake Marciano and Garrett Brewer combined for Auburn’s third shutout in the last five games to catapult the visiting Tigers to a 2-0 win over Missouri on Friday night.
Auburn snapped Missouri’s 13-game winning streak, which was the third-longest in the nation.
Marciano tossed seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, but an hour-and-a-half lighting delay — yes, lighting — ended his night before Brewer closed the final two frames with three strikeouts to record his third save this season.
The two combined to hold Missouri, which entered with a .334 team batting average, to four hits on the night, though two of those were doubles.
With the game tied at 0-0 in the top of the eighth, Bub Terrell blasted a two-run shot over the wall in right field to give the orange and blue Tigers the only runs they needed.
Game two
Auburn pulled out a gutsy 4-3 win in extra innings to take the series in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
With things knotted up at three apiece heading into the 10th, Auburn’s Cade Belyeu and Chris Rembert both reached with no outs to lead off the frame. Chase Fralick followed with a single down the right field line to plate Belyeu from second, giving Auburn closer Ryan Hetzler a one-run cushion before retiring the side to secure the series.
The visiting Tigers trailed after the second inning, as Missouri used a leadoff double, followed by a bunt single to get a run across on a double-play ball.
Auburn evened the score in the fifth as Brandon McCraine led things off with a walk and later scored on an infield groundout. Lucas Steele tallied Auburn’s first base knock in the frame, but was thrown out from right field trying to stretch a single into a double.
Eric Guevara tallied the second hit of the game for the orange and blue Tigers to lead off the seventh, and Terrell reached on a fielder's choice the following at-bat. Brandon McCraine doubled to center field to give Auburn a pair of runners in scoring position with one out. Terrell touched pay dirt on a sacrifice fly, giving Auburn a one-run lead at the inning’s end.
With the bases juiced in the eighth after a pair of walks and a single, Fralick tallied Auburn’s third run after Terrell drew an RBI-walk, but it left the bases clogged to end the inning.
Missouri responded with two runs on two hits in the eighth to even the score at three.
In the ninth, the home Tigers threatened with a pair of singles to lead off the frame, but on the second, Mateo Serna was hosed at third on a rope from Terrell in left field, and Ryan Hetzler struck out two straight to escape the inning unscathed.
Hetzler earned his third win of the season with two and one-third scoreless innings and four strikeouts. Jackson Sander earned the nod and tossed seven innings, fanning eight Missouri Tigers and giving up just one run on three hits.
Game three
Auburn paired a dynamite effort from starter Alex Petrovic and a 7-run explosion in the seventh inning to secure the sweep in the nightcap on Saturday.
The Tigers recorded six of their 12 hits in the seventh inning as Brandon McCraine got things started with a single to shallow right and Steele followed with his first double of the season. A Mason McCraine walk loaded the bases, warranting a pitching change of the home Tigers.
Clay Todd and Cade Belyeu barrelled consecutive singles, Rembert plated another on a sacrifice fly and Terrell poked an infield single for another run before Ethin Bingaman cleared the bases with a 383-foot blast over the left field wall to cap the inning’s theatrics.
Petrovic tossed a career-high seven and two-thirds innings with eight strikeouts, four hits and one run relinquished for his fourth win of the season.
Auburn struck first in the fourth when Bingaman blasted a one-out ground-rule double to left center and scored on Brandon McCraine’s ensuing single to right center.
A one-out double and an RBI single through the right side allowed Missouri to even things at one apiece after six innings.
After exploding for seven runs in the seventh, the orange and blue Tigers tallied another insurance run in the eighth with a one-out RBI single through the left side from Belyeu.
The home Tigers punched one more run in in the ninth as Pierre Seals led off with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a defensive indifference. He scored from second on a Blaize Ward single to left center.
Jett Johnston tossed the final one and one-third innings, striking out a pair on six hits with a run in 23 pitches.
Auburn returns to Plainsman Park for a midweek tilt with Georgia Tech on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on SECN+.
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