Auburn baseball is off and running in the 2026 season and got off to a 3-0 start after sweeping a scrappy Youngstown State club that proved to be a bit tougher than anticipated, at least through the first 2 games of the series as the Tigers took games 1 & 2 by a score of 2-1.
Super sophomore Chase Fralick either drove in or scored the winnings runs in the first 2 games as a late single in the 8th inning of game 1 brought home Eric Guevara and in game 2 Fralick dashed home after a wild pitch was delivered from Youngstown St pitcher Aidan English.
In game 3, the bats finally roared back to life as the Tigers run ruled the Penguins 17-2 in 7 innings. Fralick kick started the barrage by mashing a 2-run homerun in the 1st inning. The scoring continued in the 2nd as Bristol Carter singled in Mason McCraine and Bub Terrell brought home two more with a single to stretch the Auburn lead to 5-0.
Auburn added a run in the 4th as Cade Belyeu sac flied in Terrell and then the Tigers unleashed an eight run inning in the 5th that saw Guevara double home a run, Guevara score a run on a field error, Brandon McCraine single in Fralick, Mason McCraine single in Lucas Steele, Belyeu score on a wild pitch, Bristol Carter drive in both McCraines, and the finally Ryne Farber drove in Carter via single which expanded the lead to 14-0.
Auburn saw their last three runs come in the 6th as Terrell launched a solo shot and the McCraines both drove in runs via RBI singles. Alex Jang finally drove in a run for Youngstown to make it 17-1 and then the final run of the series came way by a wild pitch.
All in all, it was a good series for the Tigers as they earned a sweep. The one red flag that could be raised was the number of strikeouts Butch Thompson’s club had at the dish which was 23 in total and 7 of the 23 were all in a row. If they can overcome the early woes at the plate the ceiling is very high for this Auburn squad.
Top Tiger of the Weekend:
Virginia Tech transfer pitcher Jake Marciano is the first “Top Tiger” of the new campaign as the newcomer struck out an incredibly impressive 12 batters over 5 innings pitched and 17 batters faced. His only blemish was a solo homerun given up in the 4th inning of game 1.
Auburn looks to improve to 4-0 versus Cincinnati during the midweek game and will look to remain undefeated as they take on Kansas St, Florida St, and Louisville in that order at the Amegy College Baseball Series being held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
