MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Auburn Tigers earned their 20th win of the season Tuesday night, beating the South Alabama Jaguars 13-5 at Riverwalk Stadium.
Both offenses wasted no time putting runs on the board, as the Jaguars and Tigers scored a few in the first inning. Auburn’s starter Alex Petrovic gave up an earned run in his one inning of work, but South Alabama managed to score two in the top half of the first frame.
While it wasn’t to the point where it had an effect on the outcome of the game, the Tigers were plagued by five errors. The first run scored was thanks to one of the mishaps in the field, and another unearned run came in later for the Jaguars.
However, the Auburn bats quickly tied the game, took the lead and built it. The Ike Irish show continued in the bottom half of the first. After homering twice this past weekend against Kentucky, Irish added another long ball to his season tally to tie the game at two. Cooper McMurray, the following batter, sent one out to right for a solo shot that gave the Tigers a lead they never relinquished.
From that point, Auburn only continued to pile it on. Five runs came across for coach Butch Thompson’s team in the bottom of the second thanks to another long ball, this time from Cade Belyeu, as well as more RBIs from Irish and junior Lucas Steele.
If you thought Irish was done doing damage at this point in the game, you would be poorly mistaken. The very next inning, the First Team All-SEC catcher doubled in another run. Then, in the seventh, he hit his second home run of the game to give Auburn a seven-run lead.
The final stat line for Irish was eye-popping: four hits in his six at-bats, three runs scored, five RBIs and two homers. He finished just a triple shy of the cycle. The monster performance brought Irish’s season batting average up to .351. After a slower start to the campaign than he may have hoped for, there is no doubt that the junior has found his stride again.
Not to be overshadowed, Belyeu also enjoyed a huge offensive output in Alabama’s capital city. He was a perfect 3-3 while driving in three runs and scoring two. He also wore two pitches to earn a pair of free bases.
It was an all-around effort from a pitching standpoint, as eight different Tigers saw action on the bump. Only two pitchers, Jett Johnston and John Armstrong, went more than an inning, with both finishing two scoreless frames.
With over 30 games of baseball left, the Tigers are already within seven wins of their overall victory total a year ago. A big test awaits however, as Auburn will travel to Athens, Georgia to take on the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs in a weekend tilt. The series will run Friday through Sunday with the first pitch in game one scheduled for 5 p.m. CT. The game can be listened to live on the Auburn Sports Network.
