After being away from the friendly confines of Plainsman Park for five straight games Auburn baseball finally returned home against the 15th ranked Arkansas Razorbacks looking to find their fortunes turn having been stuck in the midst a four-game losing streak. Butch Thompson’s club proved up to the challenge as they took the series two games to one which has shot them back into the top this week.
In game 1 Auburn broke it open in the home half of the 5th inning thanks to scoring 7 runs which broke a 1-1 tie to give the Tigers an 8-1 lead. An Eric Guevara solo shot in the 6th and a Chris Rembert RBI double in the 8th would be stretch the lead to 10-1 but a Nolan Souza RBI double in the 9th for the Razorbacks was too little too late as the good guys took home an impressive 10-2 victory. Sophomore Andreas Alvarez was lights out on the mound striking out 10 batters while only giving up one earned run in his six innings of work. LJ Cormier worked a 3 inning save fanning five Razorbacks.
Game 2 was the closest as Arkansas evened the series with a 3-2 win in large part to Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick’s two-homer performance that was the only scoring for the Razorback nine. Jake Marciano continued his impressive form as in seven innings pitched, he only gave up one run, set down eight batters on strikes, and issued only one walk.
The rubber match of the series looked to be a barn burner as both teams scored three runs a piece in the 2nd but then the Tigers pulled away with two runs next time around in the 3rd. Homeruns from Bub Terrell in the 5th and Chase Fralick in the 6th helped Auburn add some insurance runs which would prove vital as they took the series with an 8-3 win. Alex Petrovic and Jackson Sanders teamed up to pitch brilliantly as they fanned a combined 12 batters with Petrovic issuing the lone walk of the game.
Top Tiger: This week’s “Top Tiger” award goes to Andreas Alvarez for his fantastic start in game 1 of the series that propelled Auburn to a 10-2 dub. Alvarez tied a career high in Ks with 10 in just six inning of work and will look to further cement his place in the rotation during weekend series.
The 10th ranked Tigers will be home all week with a game against 21st ranked Jacksonville St traveling down this evening. Kentucky will then come down to Plainsman this weekend as both teams will look to place themselves in the upper half of the conference standings headed into the last month and a half of the season.
