A week after taking two out of three games on the road against the No. 3 South Carolina Gamecocks last weekend, the Auburn Tigers (27-19-1, 11-13. SEC) picked up a win in two out of three games against the No. 1 LSU Tigers (37-10, 16-7 SEC) at home in Plainsman Park this weekend.
The first game of the series took place on Friday night and LSU ended up taking a 3-0 win to open up the series.
Sophomore right-hander Chase Allsup got the start for Auburn and ended up with the loss after a four-inning outing that saw two runs off of three hits, two batters walked and one struck out.
Junior first baseman Tre' Morgan produced all three LSU runs with a two-run homer in the first inning and an RBI single in the seventh.
"All the way through, just a nice job all around," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. "They just shoved it on us on the mound. That was the difference in the ballgame."
First pitch for the second game was at 8:00 p.m. CDT on Saturday night. The home Tigers were able to pick up the 8-6 win in the first Auburn baseball game to ever feature an eagle flight.
Graduate left-hander Tommy Vail got the start for the home Tigers and allowed only two runs off of six hits, walked one batter and struck out eight. Freshman left-hander Zach Crotchfelt picked up the win for Auburn. Sophomore right-hander Will Cannon earned his fifth save of the season.
The lead went back and forth between the two teams early but Auburn took control in the bottom of the sixth inning and never gave it back to even the series.
"We competed," Thompson said. "It was going to take a competitive spirit. Our crowd is creating an SEC environment that's absolutely a factor in a ballgame."
The rubber match got underway on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. CDT and Auburn wasted no time offensively.
Redshirt junior right-hander Christian Herberholz got the start and pitched five innings, only giving up two runs off of five hits, walking two batters and striking out four.
The home Tigers took control in the bottom of the first inning and never gave it back, picking up the 12-2 win to clinch the series.
"I thought all three games, even our loss, our processes were good," Thompson said. "We absolutely showed up in a big way today."
Auburn will be back in action tomorrow night when the Tigers travel up to Hoover, Alabama for a midweek contest with the Samford Bulldogs at the Hoover Met. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. CDT.
