AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) - Sophomore Trace Bright pitched 6.0 shutout innings to cap off the Round Rock Classic with a win over SEC foe Texas A&M.
After giving up more runs on Saturday to Baylor (12) than the previous six games combined, pitching coach Tim Hudson looked to get his pitchers back on track to finish the weekend.
"We have much work to do. This was a figure it out weekend," head coach Butch Thompson said.
Bright improved to (2-0, 0.82) after only giving up three hits and no runs in his 6.0 innings pitched. In their first two games at Round Rock, Baylor had scored 21 runs on their 22 hits. On Sunday, Bright and the Tigers held the Bears to just one run on four hits.
After his performance against both Texas A&M and Alabama A&M earlier in the week, Bright has been named SEC Pitcher of the Week as announced by the league office Monday
"Coming out of the bullpen and warmups, you have to be ready," Bright said.
Auburn's Tyler Miller and Kason Howell got their bats rolling with two outs in the fourth inning to give Auburn the early lead. Miller, who ended the weekend going 7-for-7 with four runs and four RBIs, began the two-out rally with a double. Howell then hit an RBI single, scoring Miller and giving Auburn the 1-0 lead.
"Tyler Miller just keeps swinging the bat," Thompson said. "He had another good day swinging the bat."
From there, Auburn went on to score five more unanswered runs opening up a 6-0 lead going into the bottom on the ninth.
The Aggies did not get on the board until Texas A&M's Logan Sartori hit a sacrifice flyball to right field, scoring the Aggies' only run of the game.
Freshman Cam Hill closed the game on the mound for his second appearance of the year. Hill rounded out the Tigers' final win in the Round Rock Classic by pitching for 1.0 inning with one run on one hit and two strikeouts.
Auburn (6-2) returns to Plainsman Park on Tuesday to square off against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks (4-3) at 4 p.m. CT.
