No. 6 Auburn baseball picked up its first series win in Gainesville since 2013 with a 2-1 series win over No. 7 Florida this weekend at Condron Family Ballpark.
Auburn dropped game one 6-3, bounced back with a gutsy 5-3 win in the middle game and secured the series with an 8-5 win in Sunday’s rubber match.
Here is a recap of the Tigers’ weekend:
Game one
Auburn scored first in the series-opener but relinquished six runs afterward and was unable to mount a comeback, falling 6-3 to Florida on Friday.
Abe Chancellor, who retired nine of the 10 batters he faced, gave the Tigers a chance with three scoreless innings in relief. Auburn plated two in the seventh, but it was not enough on a night where the Tigers struck out 11 times.
Auburn scored in the opening frame on a two-out single through the left side from Logan Gregorio. Ethin Bingaman struck on hard to left center shortly after, but a diving catch from Florida’s Blake Cyr held the Tigers at bay.
Florida starter Aiden King went on to retire the next 10 Auburn batters he faced, as the Tigers were held hitless from the second through the sixth frames.
The Gators punched back with a run of their own in the first and pushed their lead to 4-1 with a three-run homer from Cyr in the third.
Auburn starter Andreas Alvarez ended his night with six hits, three strikeouts and four runs given up in 2.1 innings, enduring his second loss of the year.
Florida pushed its lead to five after scoring a pair of runs on a bloop to right field, which was a two-out, two RBI double.
Auburn scored two runs on four hits as Mason McCraine singled to score Eddie Madrigal, and Chase Fralick recorded an RBI single.
But it wasn’t enough as Auburn could not muster any runs in the final two frames.
Game two
Auburn bounced back with a gutsy 5-3 win to tie the series on Friday night, giving skipper Butch Thompson his 350th win in orange and blue.
The Tigers were down two starters in Chase Fralick and Logan Gregorio and fielded four freshmen in the final seven innings.
After a pair of one-out walks issued by Auburn pitcher Jackson Sanders in the bottom of the ninth, the Tigers went with Ryan Hetzler in hopes of closing out the game. Clinging to a 5-3 lead, he relinquished a single through the middle to load the bases but issued an inning-ending double play ball to earn his second save this season.
Jake Marciano toed the rubber and gave up one earned run in four innings before Sanders tossed 4.1 scoreless frames to earn the win.
At the plate, Mason McCraine turned in a multi-homer game with a two-run blast in the fourth and a solo shot in the sixth, driving in the Tigers’ last three runs.
Bingaman ambushed the first pitch of the second inning to start the scoring and give Auburn a 1-0 lead. It was his fourth homer of the season.
Fralick was hit by a pitch in the third inning and was removed from behind the plate after trying to throw down before the bottom half of the inning. Florida then scored when its leadoff hitter reached on a wild pitch after striking out and advanced to second on a passed ball. He scored on a sacrifice bunt that resulted in a throwing error, and the Gators took the lead on a two-out single.
Bingaman ripped a double down the left field line in the fourth and scored on a dropped pop fly. Mason McCraine then launched the aforementioned two-run shot to give Auburn a 4-2 lead.
Florida’s Cyr cut into the lead with a solo shot in the bottom half of the inning.
McCraine came back around with one out in the sixth and smacked his second home run of the game over the wall in center, leaving the bat at 109 miles per hour and traveling 412 feet.
With a 5-3 lead, Auburn held the Gators scoreless despite them threatening in both the eighth and ninth frames.
Game three
With the game tied at three apiece heading into the ninth, Auburn plated five runs in its half of the inning to help the Tigers secure the rubber match with an 8-5 win over Florida.
Auburn had six hits heading into the last frame, but scored five runs on four hits and took advantage of two Florida errors. Mason McCraine blasted his third homer of the weekend to cap off the Tigers’ scoring efforts.
Alex Petrovic earned the nod for Auburn and tossed seven innings with five strikeouts, and three runs given up on as many hits allowed.
For the first time in the series, Florida struck first with a two-out, three-run blast off the bat of Cyr. It was his seventh of the season and third of the weekend.
Petrovic gave up one hit the rest of the way.
Auburn struggled in the early goings at the plate and did not record its first base knock of the game until the fifth. The Tigers took advantage of an error and a walk to set up a sacrifice fly from Terrell to score the first run of the fifth. The ensuing at-bat delivered the first hit, a Mason McCraine single down the line in right to score his brother, Brandon.
With both pitching staffs continuing to hold the opposing lineup at bay, Auburn finally broke the game open in the final two frames.
Terrell tallied the lone run in the eighth with a blast over the wall in right on the first pitch of the inning.
Hetlzer picked up where Petrovic left off, turning in the fifth straight hitless frame in the eighth before Auburn plated five runs to lead off the ninth.
A lead-off single, a couple of errors gave Auburn its first run – the first on an errant throw from the Florida pitcher fielding a bunt. Brandon McCraine barrelled a two-RBI double down the line in right, and his brother Mason cleaned house with a two-run blast to right center.
Florida recorded its first hit since the third inning in its final plate appearance. A two-out single and a two-run homer in the ensuing at-bat cut the lead to three, but Eddie Madrigal snagged a lineshot over his head at first to end the game.
Auburn will stay on the road for a midweek tilt with Samford on Tuesday at the Hoover Met. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email [email protected].
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every day.
