Auburn, AL (EETV)- No. 8 Auburn baseball is now 5-0 after its first midweek game in Plainsman Park on Wednesday, February 19 against Oakland. The final score was 17-1.
Oakland started off with a home run in the second inning. The Tigers retaliated with 7 runs also in the second inning. Sophomore Ryan Bliss and senior Rankin Woley both had career-highs. Bliss had four hits and Woley had four RBI and Austin Miller turned in his first career hit.
“We’re playing a lot of guys, and I think that’s important,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “We're seeing something every day that we can keep building on or excites us. It's a lot of fun right now watching Ryan Bliss and Rankin Woley do their thing. They're just seeing the ball well.”
Trace Bright, Garrett Wade, Carson Skipper, Seb Thomas, Drew Baker and Mason Barnett combined struck out 13 batters. For the first time since 2004, Auburn pitchers have struck out double-digit batters in five straight games. This game also marked the team’s fourth straight game with 10 or more hits.
"Coach Thompson gave me a great opportunity to play here at Auburn, and I'm just taking it all in, just working hard,” Bliss said. “I do, if I'm healthy enough, want to play every day. I just love the game of baseball, and I just want to be out there helping my team compete - compete for Auburn, the community and all the fans, and just play ball.”
Senior Matt Scheffler threw out an Oakland runner at each base and matched a career-high with three hits.
“That's when a catcher shows up, a catcher with maturity,” Thompson said. “He had a great offensive night, but again, (he) threw a guy out at all three bases tonight that helped end an inning. There's no doubt that Oakland scores more if he doesn't play catch on those three throws."
The Auburn Tigers face UCF (3-1) to Plainsman Park this weekend for a three-game series. The first game will be Friday, February 21st at 3 p.m. and can be seen on SEC Network+.
