AUBURN, Ala. - No. 14 Auburn got a satisfying series win and ended what had been a rough skid for the Tigers as they topped the No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide 7-5 on Saturday night.
Auburn thoroughly dominated Alabama Friday, with a strong pitching performance from Samuel Dutton and 6 runs in the first couple of innings, Auburn ended up run ruling Alabama 10-0 after 7.
The Tigers looked to secure the series early, but game one of the doubleheader Saturday was a tough back and forth match. Auburn and Alabama traded leads the entire game, with the Tigers going into the ninth with a 5-4 lead.
However, Alabama standout shortstop Justin Lebron hit a two-run homer to give the Crimson Tide the lead and eventual win. Meaning that game two would be the rubber match.
But for the second time this weekend, the Tigers scored 6 runs in the first 2 innings and gave them a 6-3 lead that they held for the remainder of the game.
On the mound for Auburn, Andreas Alvarez got the start and went 2.2 innings, allowing two hits, three runs, and two walks along with two strikeouts. In relief, southpaw Griffin Graves came in and 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball before Dylan Watts also tacked on another scoreless inning. Ryan Hetzler came in for the three-inning save, only giving up one run.
Offensively, Auburn's standouts included three separate guys who went 2-4 with Chris Rembert, Lucas Steele, and Ike Irish all having productive days at the plate. Bub Terrell went 3-4 with three RBI and Eric Guevara launched a solo shot in the sixth.
Auburn (22-10, 6-6) will travel east to Atlanta to take on a solid Georgia Tech team (25-6), first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET Tuesday on the ACC Network (ACCN) and the Auburn Sports Network.
