Auburn, AL- After a nail-biting start, the Auburn Tigers' bats heated up against the UT Martin Skyhawks on a chilly night in baseball.
The first and second innings were rough for the Tigers, as they only managed to get one run on the board while the Skyhawks scored six runs in that span.
The Tigers' offense got in their groove in the bottom of the third, scoring four runs. Junior Rankin Woley scored on freshman Ryan Bliss' RBI double. Everett Lau, the next batter, followed suit and hit an RBI double to left center, scoring Bliss. Kason Howell singled to right scoring Lau, and Judd Ward scored Howell on another RBI single. The Tigers still trailed the Skyhawks, 6-5.
Sophomore Edouard Julien hit his fifth home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth, tying the game 6-6. UT Martin took the lead in the top of the fifth, 7-6, but Auburn quickly answered the run with their own and tied the game again, 7-7. The Skyhawks stole the lead, yet again, in sixth, but this time Auburn hit two runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for the first time. The Tigers led the Skyhawks 9-8.
After a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, Auburn scored three more runs in the bottom half on Lau's three-run homer to right, scoring Woley and Julien. UT Martin tried to come back, but fell short in the top of the eighth after only scoring one run.
The Tigers scored their share of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, leading the Skyhawks 15-9. After another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the ninth, the Tigers finished the game six runs ahead of the Skyhawks.
Auburn increases their record to 10-2 and looks to sweep UT Martin in the two-game series tomorrow with first pitch at 4 p.m.
