Auburn (20-21, 2-17) lost game one of the three-game series 5-0 to LSU (27-16, 6-13) despite a strong start from Dylan Watts. Auburn's offense failed to succeed, unable to provide any run support to Watts. After being a strength of the team most of the season, Auburn's offense has only scored five runs in the last four SEC games.
Auburn's pitching has caught the brunt of much of the criticism surrounding the team this season, but Dylan Watts set out to change the tune on Friday night. Watts entered the game with a 5.66 ERA in just over 20 innings pitched this season. He would throw over a fourth of that Friday.
Watts threw an impressive five and two-thirds innings allowing just two runs on three hits while amassing a season-high nine strikeouts. For a pitcher making just his fourth start of the season, it is hard to ask for much better.
"Dylan absolutely steadied himself, got us to really the back third, almost got us to the seventh inning," Auburn head coach Auburn Butch Thompson said. "I can just see growth with what he's doing."
Watts is only in his first season on the plains after transferring in from Tacoma Community College. Not many, if any, would have anticipated the junior college transfer pitching in such a pivotal spot for the Tigers this season. When things did not go as planned for others in Auburn's rotation this season, Thompson turned to the young pitcher and he has delivered as the Friday night starter.
Despite the strong start, Watts was not provided run support from his teammates. Auburn only had two hits on the night and only one runner ever made it into scoring position. That was Auburn outfielder Chris Stanfield who singled and then stole second base in the fifth inning. The only other hit of the game was a single from Cade Belyeu in the third inning.
It was another disappointing night adding to what has been a disappointing season for Auburn. The Tigers once again failed to put together a complimentary game. For the majority of the season, it was Auburn's hitting doing the job, but the pitching. However, that has flipped over the last four SEC games. Auburn's pitching is finding its rhythm, but the bats have gone cold.
"It looks like the last week or so as we started growing a little bit on the mound that, you know, we've just haven't been able to put a lineup together to be offensive enough here in SEC play," said Thompson.
The good news for the Tigers is they will have two more opportunities to put a complete game together. The Tigers can still win the series if they can put two complete games together over the next two days. The first pitch of game two is set for 6:00 PM. The game will air on SEC Network+ and the Auburn Sports Network.
