AUBURN, Ala. – After losing their second game of the season Wednesday night to UAB in Birmingham, Auburn baseball made their way back into the win column Friday night. Auburn won the first of their three game set against Old Dominion under the lights at Plainsman Park, 10-4.
Auburn was not the first team on the board in the win, trailing after Efrain Morales took a fastball deep over the War Eagle wall in left to give Old Dominion the lead in the top of the first. Auburn loaded the bases in the back half of the inning on three straight walks, but couldn’t get the hit needed to bring them in.
Auburn got out of a jam in the top of the second and Auburn tied the game in the bottom of the third on an Ike Irish sacrifice groundout. Auburn took the lead just three pitches later on a single from Deric Fabian which brought in Cooper McMurray and doubled the lead on a single from Chase Fralick, making the Tigers’ advantage 3-1.
After shutting down the Monarch offense for a third straight inning in the top of the fourth, Auburn got back to work, scoring two more runs. Eric Snow brought in the first on a double to right-center and the second came in via a walk Old Dominion struck back with one more off a Luke Watters double in the top of the fifth and added two more on a Tahraun Hammond single in the sixth.
Auburn didn’t let up on the gas, increasing their advantage back to two in the bottom half of the sixth with a Deric Fabian solo homer to center. Auburn tacked on another on a missile to left off the bat of Deric Fabian once again, Eric Snow scored. Chase Fralick added three more a couple at-bats later with a bases clearing double into left-center and at the end of seven it was 10-4 Tigers.
Auburn took this lead and was able to hold off any other chances for Old Dominion, clinching the series opener by a score of 10-4. Samuel Dutton went 4.2 strong innings in the start, allowing two earned runs while striking out five. John Armstrong earned his first win of the season, going 2.2 innings in relief, striking out two while allowing no runs. Deric Fabian led the Auburn offense with a three for four hitting night, including a solo homer and three RBIs.
“I wanted to pick a ‘make-a-difference partner’ for everybody… and I picked Fabian, so I was rooting for him extra hard tonight. And he kept coming after a hit, after the home run, after a double play, he’d come and hit me in the chest… so we had fun with that tonight,” said Coach Butch Thompson about Fabian’s stellar performance in the series opener.
Eric Snow and Chase Fralick were also key contributors for the Tigers, both notching two for five nights with Fralick having four batted-in and Snow bringing one around.
Auburn moves to 12-2 in the spring season and will face Old Dominion at Plainsman Park again tomorrow night. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. and will be streamed live on SEC Network+ or can be listened to on the Auburn Sports Network.
