Auburn, Ala. (EETV) – No. 17 Auburn faced No. 6 South Carolina over the weekend.
Friday night was the first game and pitcher Casey Mize’s first career complete game. He had a career-high tying 12 strikeouts, four runs and 10 hits. On 120 pitches, he only allowed one walk. In the bottom of the second, Jay Estes and Jonah Todd scored to make it a 2-0 Auburn lead. On to the home half of the fourth inning, Conor Davis and Daniel Robert came home on a Josh Anthony double. Anthony was brought home on a single from Bowen McGuffin, making it 5-0. The Gamecocks scored in the fifth and sixth innings to make the final score 5-4, a win for the Tigers. Robert and Anthony combined for 4-7 at bat.
Game two was not so good to the Tigers. Davis Daniel got the start at the mound, where he pitched for 5.1 innings with 4s all across the board: four hits, four runs and four strikeouts. His first four innings were no hitters. Corey Herndon came in to finish the sixth were he allowed two hits, two runs and one strikeout. South Carolina scored runs in the fifth, sixth and ninth. Gabe Klobosits came in to close the last three innings with one run on two hits and two strikeouts. Auburn did have two double plays in the game. They lead the SEC with 29 double plays. Catcher Blake Logan also had three good looks as he threw out three would-be base stealers in the game.
One of of the most exciting games this season in Plainsmen Park came with game three. Four Auburn pitchers graced the mound on Sunday. The first was Ryan Watson, who went for two innings on four hits and one strikeout. Cole Lipscomb came in for four innings, allowing one hit and four strikeouts. South Carolina scored in the second, fourth and seventh innings. Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Auburn tied the ball game up with scores from Estes and Todd. Andrew Mitchell came in for the seventh inning, allowing three hits. In the home half of the sixth, Estes scored on a Robert sac fly. Calvin Coker came in to close the last two innings, allowing no hits. Estes and Todd went 6-7 at the plate. The excitement came in the bottom of the ninth. Down 5-3 with two outs, freshman Conor Davis stepped up to home plate. He launched one out of the park for a three run walk-off home run. Todd and Robert also scored. It was Davis’ first career homerun.
Next up is a home game against Georgia Tech on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Auburn moved to 23-7 and 7-2 in SEC play after this weekend. They also made some moves in the polls. Auburn is now No. 7 in the Baseball America poll and No. 11 in the D1Baseball.com poll.
