No. 6 Auburn powered its way to a 2-1 series win over No. 9 Oklahoma, belting a series-high 10 home runs in the first-ever on-campus meetings between the two programs at Plainsman Park.
Auburn controlled the series-opener with a 6-4 victory, dropped the middle game 2-1 and cruised to a 14-4 victory in Sunday’s deciding game.
Here is a recap of the Tigers’ weekend:
Game one
Auburn scored three runs across the first two frames and answered the bell in two of the three innings Oklahoma scored to take the series opener 6-4 on Friday night.
The win marked Auburn’s 10th-straight series-opening win in conference play at Plainsman Park.
Auburn starter Andreas Alvarez earned his team-high seventh win of the season, holding Oklahoma to three runs on five hits with six strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work.
At the plate, Auburn belted three home runs and has now totaled 17 over its last seven games, including multiple homers in six of those contests.
Eric Guevara continued his hot surge, blasting a longball and finishing with a game-high three hits with as many RBIs.
Mason McCraine wasted no time putting Auburn on the scoreboard, sending the first leadoff home run of the season over the wall in right field. It marked his fourth homer in the last three games. Chase Fralick followed suit with a solo blast two batters later.
With a pair of outs in the bottom of the second, Carter broke for second on the pitch and Guevara singled through the middle, scoring Carter from first base for a 3-0 lead.
Nine of Auburn’s first 14 batters reached base in the first two innings, but it clung to a 3-0 lead afterward due to leaving the bases stranded in each frame.
The Sooners tallied a pair of runs in the fourth with back-to-back one-out doubles and cut the lead to one run after a two-out single in the frame.
Auburn answered in its half of the fourth after McCraine drew a leadoff walk to end Oklahoma starter LJ Mercurius’ night. Guevara greeted reliever Mason Bixby with the aforementioned 416 feet two-run homer.
With Auburn clinging to a 5-3 lead in the top of the seventh, Alvarez walked a Sooner with two outs, ultimately ending his night and giving Oklahoma one more run after consecutive base hits.
The Tigers scored one more in the seventh after Bub Terrell scored on a sacrifice fly from Brandon McCraine.
Oklahoma plated another on a two-out single in the eighth before Auburn reliever Jackson Sanders buckled down and retired the last four batters of the game, giving him his second save of the season.
Game two
With a chance to clinch the series, Auburn left nine runners stranded and tallied just five hits as Oklahoma put on a stellar defensive display en route to a 2-1 win on Saturday.
The loss was Auburn’s fifth one-run loss in a middle game in conference play, including its fourth straight in a middle game at home.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Auburn placed the tying run on first, but a hard shot back up the middle was snagged by Oklahoma second baseman Kyle Branch, who threw to first for the final out. It was one of nine defensive assists for the Sooners’ second baseman.
Auburn trailed by two runs in the bottom of the eighth, but Chase Fralick banged a solo homer off the batter’s eye to cut the deficit to one. It marked Fralick’s second homer in as many days.
Oklahoma loaded the bases with nobody out in the second frame, but only scored one run on a sacrifice fly. Auburn starter Jake Marciano threw an inning-ending double play ball to minimize the damage.
Auburn loaded the bases in the fourth but was unable to score a run.
Oklahoma added one more run in the fifth with a timely two-out hit off the bat of Deiten LaChance. The RBI single to left field marked his fourth two-out hit of the series.
Marciano took the loss after giving up two runs on six hits with a pair of walks and five strikeouts in five innings. LJ Cormier relieved him and turned in a season-high 3.1 scoreless innings. Abe Chancellor recorded the final two outs in the ninth to keep the Sooners off the board, but Auburn was unable to take advantage in its half of the frame.
Game three
Auburn smashed six home runs for the first time this season en route to a 14-4 win over Oklahoma in Sunday’s rubber match.
After a stagnant night at the plate in Saturday’s contest, Auburn recorded 13 hits led by a 4-for-4 showing from Guevara with a homer, two doubles and three runs scored. Ethin Bingaman belted three home runs and forced the mercy rule with a three-run blast in the home half of the eighth.
Bingaman is the first player since Cole Foster in 2022 to hit three home runs in one game.
After a shaky start where he gave up two runs in the opening frame, Auburn’s Alex Petrovic buckled down and held the Sooners scoreless for the next five innings, without a hit from the third through the sixth frames.
The Tigers plated a run in five of their eight plate appearances and put the lead-off man aboard in four innings. Auburn hit .371 as a team, .462 with runners on base, and .400 with runners in scoring position.
Oklahoma turned a hit by pitch and a walk into runs after a single and a double to score a pair in the opening frame, but it was all Auburn from there on.
Auburn got on the board and cut the Sooners’ lead in half on a Bub Terrell homer over the batter's eye in the second. It was his 10th homer of the season, making him the first Tiger to reach double-digit home runs this season.
The Tigers tallied a trio of runs in the third inning. Guevara, who did not record a hit for the first time in 18 games on Saturday, ripped a single through the left side and Chase Fralick homered for the third time this weekend over the wall in right to give Auburn the lead.
Bingaman followed two batters later with a 419-foot blast over the War Eagle Wall.
After blasting a solo shot in the third to put the Tigers on the board, Terrell doubled in the fourth and advanced to third on a wild pitch but was left stranded after an inning-ending flyout.
With Petrovic settling in after the shaky start, Oklahoma’s Brendan Brock led off the fourth with a walk. With two outs, he broke for second on the pitch and was thrown out by Fralick to end the inning. It was the first time Brock had been thrown out on a steal in SEC play and the second time this season.
In the home half of the frame, Guevara barreled a stand-up double to score Bristol Carter, who walked to lead off the inning, and Bingaman obliterated his second homer of the day to drive in three more runs.
Guevara tallied his fourth hit of the day with a two-run shot on top of the hitting facility in right field. It marked his 10th of the season, tying Terrell for the most on the team.
Oklahoma loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh, but it only plated one run on a sacrifice fly to center after Ryan Hetlzer retired three straight in relief of Garrett Brewer, who started the inning.
Petrovic gave up a two-out solo homer in the eighth after a close no-call for strike three on the previous pitch.
Mason McCraine led off the Auburn eighth with a double down the right field line and Guevara was hit by a pitch before a Fralick single loaded the bases.
With runners on the corners, Auburn could not have asked for a more fitting end.
Bingaman stepped into the box and homered for the third time to left center field, ultimately ending the game in eight innings.
Auburn will take the week off before traveling to College Station to take on No. 7 Texas A&M in a three-game weekend series.
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