Auburn baseball rebounded in a major way this past weekend after a disheartening loss to Cincinnati by sweeping Kansas St, Florida St, and Louisville. The bats finally woke up as the Tigers scored more than 5 runs in each game and averaged a little over 7 runs on the weekend.
In game 1, Auburn went up 1-0 in the 1st after Bristol Carter was driven in by Chase Fralick via a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded. It was all quiet for both teams until Bub Terell singled in Carter to make it a 2-0 game. As the game moved into the later stages Auburn was able to add some insurance runs in the top of the 8th as Eric Guevara singled in Carter and Lucas Steele was able to bring Guevara home via a sac fly to move the game to 4-0 going into the bottom of the 8th.
Micah Kendrick delivered the Wildcats only run in a pinch as he doubled home Shintaro Inoue to make it 4-1 heading into the final frame. Carter added the Tigers last run of the first game by grounding out however it allowed freshman Ethin Bingamin to advance home. Garrett Brewer came in and sat the first two batters of the Kansas State 9th down on back-to-back groundouts, then gave up a double, but bounced back to record a fly out to preserve the 5-1 victory. Jake Marciano shined once again on the mound as in six innings pitched, he fanned eight batters and only issued two hits.
Game 2 saw Auburn battle back from an early 4-0 deficit as Florida State scored all four runs in the top of the 1st. Caiden Combs put the Tigers on the board in the bottom of the 2nd as he grounded but scored Brandon McCraine in the process to cut it to 4-1.
In Auburn’s half of the 3rd, Bristol Carter launched his first homerun of the season to cut the lead in half at 4-2. Auburn was finally able to take the lead in the 5th as a Guevara single brought across Ryne Farber and then in a very scary play Fralick popped on down the right field line but two Seminole defenders collided which was able to score Guevara and Carter, but a scary play at the plate robbed Fralick of an inside the park homerun with the score now at 5-4 in favor of the Tigers.
In the next inning, Logan Gregorio was able to sac fly in McCraine to make it 6-4 heading into the final three frames. Fralick again brought home a run via a sac fly that scored Farber but also saw Carter get thrown out at second base. On a swinging strike out in the 8th Florida State was able to score Gabe Fraser to cut the Auburn lead to 7-5. The final run of the game came as McCraine dashed home on a wild pitch to pick up an insurance run and cement the 8-5 victory. Sophomore Jackson Sanders rebounded nicely after the rough first inning as in five innings pitched he struck out nine while only issuing one walk in the winning effort.
Auburn faced off against perennial ACC contender Louisville to end their stint in Texas and in typical Texas fashion this one turned into a shootout. Combs got things kicked off for the Tigers as he singled in Bingamin in the top half of the 2nd. Terrell had some nifty base running as he drew attention to himself on a attempted steal which led McCrain to scurry on home to make it 2-0 Tigers after three innings of play.
Bingamin rocketed his first college career homer in the 4th inning to stretch the Auburn lead to 3-0. The Cardinals were able to come within a run as Tague Davis put them on the board with a two run bomb to left center. Auburn was immediately able to secure that run back as Fralick drove a ball over the left center field wall to make it 4-2. Cardinal shortstop Cade Elam was able to sac fly in Kyle Campbell to make it a 4-3 game heading into the last three innings of an incredibly important weekend trip.
Starting off the Tiger’s offensive explosion over their last time at the plate was a bases loaded walk from McCraine, a Terrell double which scored Fralick and Guevara, another heads up move as Terrell got picked off but brought across McCraine, and then Bingamin launched his second homer of the day which was a solo shot to make it a 9-3 game going to the 8th.
Fralick kept up his hot pace as he singled in Carter for the final run of the weekend. Louisville did put up a good fight in their last at bat as they were able to score two in the bottom of the 9th to bring the game to a final of 10-6. Alex Petrovic picked up his second win of the season as through five innings pitched he struck out five and did not walk a single batter.
Top Tiger:
This weekend’s “Top Tiger” is Chase Fralick as he went 4-11 with one homerun and five RBI in a very impressive showcase against top competition.
Auburn will host the West Georgia Wolves during the midweek as a tune up for a weekend series against Nebraska. War Eagle!
