AUBURN, Ala. — No. 25 Auburn (6-1) defeated Wright State (2-2) 11-1 on Saturday afternoon to take the weekend series against the Raiders. Auburn mercy-ruled Wright State in the series opener on Friday, and Auburn picked up where it left off on Saturday with another mercy rule victory.
It took until the third inning for Auburn’s bats to get going, but Auburn scored three runs in the frame and added on in each inning after that.
“We had five fly balls, I guess in the first couple of innings, but then we locked in and did some really good things and just took advantage,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said.
Wright State walked two Auburn batters to start the third inning before right-fielder Ike Irish singled moving runners to second and third. Wright State then made a throwing error leading to Auburn scoring its first run of the game.
The Tigers followed up Irish’s single with two straight singles from first-baseman Cooper McMurray and shortstop Deric Fabian. Those two singles each drove in a run. Auburn tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning after another single from Irish and another error from the Raiders. Irish then made his way around and scored on a wild pitch.
The fifth inning was the biggest inning of the game for Auburn. The Tigers batted around and scored five runs in the frame. Fabian led off the inning with a solo shot off War Eagle Wall before Auburn took advantage of five walks and two singles to add four more runs.
Auburn extended the lead to ten in the sixth inning after a double from second baseman Chris Rembert and an RBI single from catcher Chase Fralick.
Auburn’s pitching was once again strong on Saturday. Sophomore Alex Petrovich made his first career start throwing 2.2 innings only allowing one earned run and five strikeouts. Freshman Jackson Sanders relieved Petrovich in the third inning throwing 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball. Dylan Watts threw two innings of scoreless baseball to finish off the Raiders on Saturday.
“I thought we were vulnerable because we were missing a starter, but Petrovic was trained,” Thompson said. “He went about as far as I thought.”
Next up, Auburn will look for the sweep against Wright State. The teams will be back in action Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at Plainsman Park to wrap up the series. The game will air on the Auburn Sports Network and SECN+.
