The Auburn Tigers (21-22, 3-18) took down the LSU Tigers (28-17, 7-14) 7-5 on Sunday afternoon behind a big five-run first inning.
For the Tigers, the pieces finally came together for a big road win. The win was the first victory on the road in the SEC for head coach Butch Thompson’s squad. After just five hits in the first two games of the series, the offense found its stride with 13 hits and seven runs.
They jumped on the LSU starter Kade Anderson, tagging him for five runs on four hits. All five of the runs came with two outs. Doing the damage for the Tigers was senior Caden Green and freshman Cade Belyeu. The two combined for five hits and six RBIs, with Green adding two doubles and Belyeu scoring twice.
"The guys started the game off strong and set the tone early, just getting the barrel out," Green said. "My approach was super simple. I was trying to hit the ball the other way, but just ran into it so we'll take it."
On the other side, the Tiger pitching staff was extremely effective in limiting the potent LSU offense. Junior Carson Myers started for the Tigers and put in a solid four innings while issuing just one free pass.
Juniors John Armstrong and Will Cannon each got an inning of work before giving way to junior Parker Carlson to close the game out. Carlson was spectacular in maintaining the narrow Auburn lead. He would pitch a scoreless seventh, eighth and ninth, picking up his first save of the season.
"We needed the win," Carlson said. "We just keep staying in there and keep fighting. We've been saying 'keep fighting' since I've been here and that's just the way this team rolls. We're not going to roll over no matter how the season's going. I'm incredibly proud of each and every one of our guys."
Close games have not gone the way of the Tigers this season. Before Sunday, Auburn had lost five of its conference games by just one run. Breaking that trend will be huge for the confidence of the team as they approach the final three weeks of SEC play.
The Tigers will finish with Ole Miss at home, Missouri on the road and then Alabama back home at Plainsman Park.
Auburn has the midweek off, putting full attention on the series against the Rebels. The first game will have first pitch on Friday at 6 p.m. CT. Radio coverage will be provided by the Auburn Sports Network, and TV from SEC Network+.
