In its third of five straight series against top-10 opponents, No. 6 Auburn baseball won its fifth straight SEC series, taking the first two games from No. 7 Texas A&M at Blue Bell Park.
This weekend marked the first time the Tigers have won the first two games against a top-10 team on the road since 2023. Additionally, Auburn dethroned the Aggies for the longest streak of consecutive conference series wins with five.
After the weather forced a doubleheader for Saturday, Auburn came out and made a statement with a pair of wins to take the series. The Tigers pummeled Texas A&M 18-5 in seven innings in the series opener and took game two with a 5-4 win. Texas A&M won the finale 4-3.
Here is a recap of the Tigers' weekend:
Game one
Auburn exploded for its most runs and second-most hits in a contest this season en route to an 18-5 thumping in the series opener.
The 13-run victory was the largest margin of victory since defeating South Carolina 24-2 last season, and marked the largest margin of victory in a league game on the road since a 20-5 win over Alabama in 2018.
Auburn starter Andreas Alvarez went the distance with a career-high 11 strikeouts and zero walks, earning his eighth win of the season.
The Tigers plated six runs on six hits in the top of the second after the first eight batters in the inning reached base. Brandon McCraine started the scoring with a bases-loaded single before Eddie Madrigal drove in a pair on a single down the right field line. Bristol Carter extended the lead to four with a double down the line in left before consecutive singles from Cade Belyeu and Eric Guevara, respectively, capped off the inning’s scoring efforts.
Texas A&M responded with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to cut the Tigers’ lead to four.
But Auburn continued to keep its foot on the gas, adding another run in the third on a situational base running tactic with runners on the corners. Madrigal, on first, broke on the pitch and McCraine scored as the throw went through to second.
The Aggies responded with another solo blast in the home half of the inning, but Auburn answered with a pair of two-out, two-run homers of its own in the fourth. Chase Fralick barreled the first – his fourth straight game with a home run – before Ethin Bingaman recorded his fourth home run in the last two games.
Alvarez struck out the side in the fourth, and Auburn scored four runs in its half of the frame, marking the fourth consecutive inning the Tigers scored. Taking over for a banged-up Mason McCraine, Cade Belyeu recorded his third hit of the game, and Guevara drove in another run on a groundball to short. Fralick and Bingaman recorded a single and a double, respectively, to make it 11-3.
Texas A&M hit another home run in its half of the inning off the bat of Gavin Grahovic – his second of the contest.
McCraine extended the lead to 13 with his first homer of the season in the seventh, and Alvarez threw an inning-ending double play ball to end the game.
Game two
Auburn picked up where it left off and wasted no time plating runs, fending off the Aggies for a 5-4 win to clinch the series in game two.
With two outs in the first inning, Fralick homered to right field to give the Tigers a one-run edge. The solo blast gave Fralick a home run for the fifth straight game, making him the first Tigers since 1985 to accomplish that feat.
Auburn scored another run in the second, its 11th of the day, with two outs on an infield single back up the middle from Carter.
Fralick came back around in the third and blasted his sixth homer in the last five games to left field. Bub Terrell stepped in the box three batters later and barreled the first pitch he saw off the scoreboard in left field to give Auburn a five-run cushion.
Texas A&M got on the board with a solo homer in the third and plated two more runs in the fourth on a two-out, two-run triple.
Auburn pitcher Jake Marciano turned a scoreless fifth and sixth inning to earn the win before handing things off to Jackson Sanders in the seventh. Marciano retired the last seven batters he saw after the fourth.
After giving up a lead-off walk in the eighth, Sanders retired the next two batters, but gave up an RBI double down the line in left to make it a one-run ball game.
The Aggies put the tying run on third and the winning run on first with two outs in the ninth, but Sanders tossed a ground ball out to second base to end the game.
Game three
After an action-packed Saturday from the Tigers’ lineup, Auburn was held hitless until the seventh frame as the Aggies used a stellar performance from starter Weston Moss to take game three 4-3.
Trailing 4-1 heading into its half of the ninth, Auburn plated a pair of runs on a couple of singles, but its comeback efforts fell short after a game-ending double play.
After scoring 23 runs in two contests yesterday, Auburn struck out eight times in game three with a .212 team batting average – which jumped over 100 points in the ninth inning.
Texas A&M drew first blood for the first time in the series after Gavin Grahovac doubled down the line in left to lead off the frame. He caught the Auburn defense sleeping with a straight steal from second base — Auburn starter Alex Petrovic stepped off the rubber to throw over the third, but was off-target with his throw, and the Grahovac scored one pitch later on a groundout to shortstop.
After giving up the lone run in the first, Auburn starter Alex Petrovic found his groove as he faced the minimum until the fifth frame, where the Aggies recorded their second hit of the contest.
Meanwhile, Moss was tossing a gem on the other end, and A&M plated three as they sent eight to the plate in the sixth inning. The third hit of the game for the Aggies was a leadoff single through the left side – it was the first lead-off man on since the first inning for A&M. A one-out single put runners on first and second for Chris Hacopian, who was 0-for-2 with a pair of groundouts. He homered to left field for a three-run, round-tripper to make it 4-0. In relief, LJ Cormier walked the first two batters he faced before getting a flyout to end the inning.
Auburn’s first hit of the game came on a leadoff double down the right field line from Mason McCraine in the seventh – it was his seventh double of the season. With two outs, Chris Rembert singled through the left side, scoring Mason McCraine for the Tigers’ first run. After advancing to second on an errant throw during the play, Rembert was stranded in scoring position after an inning-ending strikeout after the Aggies’ second call to the bullpen of the frame.
Cormier and Ryan Hetlzer combined to hold the Aggies scoreless for the final three frames before Auburn cut their lead in half in its half of the ninth. With one out and runners on first and second, Rembert singled to right field and Mason McCraine scored on a fielding error before Bingaman loaded the bases with a bloop single to center field. Bub Terrell – who was 0-for-3 on the day with three strikeouts – singled to the pitcher to make it a one-run ball game.
However, Brandon McCraine grounded into the aforementioned game-ending double play to end the Tigers’ comeback bid.
Auburn will face UAB on Tuesday at Regions Field. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
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