The Auburn Tigers traveled down to Baton Rouge, LA to take on the No. 12 LSU Tigers in a three-game series this weekend. Auburn came into this set after taking two out of three games against Texas A&M in College Station, TX last weekend. Auburn also dropped a game against Jacksonville State 5-2 on Tuesday Night. LSU came into this set after winning two out of three games against Florida in Gainesville last weekend and beating ULM 15-4 on Tuesday.
In game one, Hayden Mullins was the starting pitcher for Auburn and Blake Money was the starting pitcher for LSU. Cade Doughty and Hayden Travinsky would hit a home run for LSU in the bottom of the first and fourth innings, giving them a 2-0 lead going into the fifth inning. Auburn would take over in the top of the fifth inning. Cam Hill hit a single that scored Josh Hall and Cole Foster. Brody Moore hit a home run that scored Cam Hill and Sonny Dichiara. Nathan LaRue reached based on a fielding error which allowed Mike Bello to score. That was all the scoring for Auburn, but that after they only let LSU tack on two more runs in the eight and ninth innings, it proved to be enough. Blake Burkhalter earned his fifth save of the season after fending off an LSU comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning. When asked about the offensive explosion in the top of the fifth inning, Cam Hill said, “Hitting is contagious.” He added, “We linked it up, and it was really nice for us to get on a roll.” Head Coach Butch Thompson was asked about his thoughts on the game. He said, “We wound up scoring six, which barely held up here with a crazy crowd here at Alex Box,”. He added “That's us going for it tonight.”
In game two, Trace Bright started for Auburn and Ma’Khail Hilliard started for LSU. Dylan Crews hit a home run for LSU in the bottom of the first inning and that set the tone for the rest of the game. LSU was up 3-0 going into the seventh inning. Auburn was able to push two across in the top of the seventh inning as Cole Foster tagged up on a fly-out by Blake Rambusch and Bobby Pierce scored off a single by Kason Howell. The threat of an Auburn comeback would be stomped out as LSU scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and one in the bottom of the eighth inning as they took the second game 9-2. When asked about what went wrong, Butch Thompson said, “We got the game close, and we got the guy that we wanted in the game.” He added, “Last night it worked out, but tonight it got away from us.”
For the series finale, Joseph Gonzalez got the nod for Auburn and Samuel Dutton got the nod for LSU. For the first time in the series Auburn scored the first run as Kason Howell tagged up on a fly-out by Brody Moore. LSU responded immediately as Jacob Berry scored off a single by Jordan Thompson. Auburn had a steady flow of offense as they held a 6-3 lead going into the ninth inning. Tre’ Morgan hit a home run for LSU in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Blake Burkhalter was not phased as nailed down his sixth save of the season in Auburn’s 6-4. Auburn would leave Baton Rouge with a crucial series win.
Auburn will be back in action on Tuesday night as they take on the UAB Blazers at Region Field in Birmingham, first pitch is at 6:00 pm. The Tigers also host the No. 2 Vanderbilt Commodores at home this weekend in Plainsman Park.
