Auburn baseball started off the SEC campaign as well as you could imagine as they swept the Missouri Tigers who tried to pull out all the tricks in an unsuccessful attempt to level the playing field due to their own incompetence of what it takes to run an effective SEC athletic department. Butch Thompson’s pitching staff continued their incredible efforts as over the weekend they allowed just over one run per game. The bats took a bit to wake up but were opportunistic in the first two games of the series that both saw late inning heroics.
Jake Marciano toed the rubber in game 1 and was outstanding as in seven scoreless innings of work he racked up seven strikeouts while only allowing two hits and one walk. The game remained deadlocked at zero until Bub Terrell unloaded a two-run jack in the top of the 8th. That’s when some of Mizzou’s lights mysteriously and conveniently flickered and went off which led to a lengthy delay that hindered Marciano from returning in the 8th, nonetheless Garrett Brewer worked a two inning save that saw him dominate with three strikeouts, no walks, and only two hits to preserve the 2-0 victory.
Game 2 saw Missouri jump out to a 1-0 lead as Mateo Serna grounded out into a fielder’s choice that drove in Jase Woita. Ethin Bingamin put Auburn on the board in the 5th as he drove in Brandon McCraine via a groundout to short to tie the game at 1. Mason McCraine put the good Tigers up 2-1 by way of a sac fly that scored Terrell and then in the 8th Terrell worked a bases loaded walk that brought in Ty Thompson to make it a 3-1 game.
Mizzou tied the game at three all as Kam Durnin and Woita both had RBI singles in the 8th and that score held until the 10th as Auburn’s Chase Fralick singled down the right field which brought in Cade Belyeu who was the eventual winning run.
With the series win intact Auburn took the series sweep with a 9-2 win that saw Bingamin and Belyeu lead the offense as Bingamin went 2-5 with a three-run homer in the 8th that broke the game wide open. Belyeu went 2-4 and drove in two both being RBI singles.
Top Tiger: This weekend’s “Top Tiger” is redshirt freshman slugger Ethin Bingamin as on the weekend he went 5-11 with one homerun and five RBI.
#4 Auburn will be at home all week long against fellow top 5 clubs as they welcome perennial ACC power and old rival #3 Georgia Tech on Tuesday and then will have the SEC home opener against a #2 Texas side that is looking to stake it’s claim in the top of the league. War Eagle!
