AUBURN, Ala (EETV) - Auburn (16-8, 1-5 SEC) comes from behind to beat Jax State (9-15) 13-3 in seven innings.
The Tigers showed power and tenacity throughout their lineup in a midweek matchup after another tough SEC series. After being down for half of the game, Auburn refused to quit and sent four baseball's home to fans in the cheap seats to mercy-rule Jax State. The Tiger's pitching showed off their power as well, striking out 14 Gamecocks.
"One of our key words is resiliant," said Mason Maners on the fight in his team. "Our lineup is good enough to put up a six (runs) spot whenever against the number one team in the country or Jacksonville State and our pitching staff, I have all the faith in the world in them, knowing that even though we might get punched in the mouth at the start... it's just resiliance; and I have so much faith in all my other teammates to get the job done."
The Gamecocks jumped on starter Christian Herberholz early with the first two batters scoring a hit, the ladder of the two hits was a two-run shot from shortstop Caleb Johnson. Following the homerun, the game entered a 39-minute rain delay. The Tigers got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning with a solo homerun from catcher Ike Irish, extending his hitting streak to 11 games.
Herberholz used the rain delay as a mental reset and came back to finish his outing. Herberholz, who is credited with the win, ended up going four innings striking out seven and giving up three earned runs on five hits. The third run off Herberholz came in the third after he gave up back-to-back doubles.
The Tiger's offense flipped a switch in the bottom of the fourth, where they scored seven runs. Chris Stanfield led the inning off with a blast over the wall in center. After a few walks from Jax State reliever Jack Hoppenjans, the Gamecocks went even further into their bullpen. Jax State would end up using three different pitchers to get through the inning. Irish took advantage of a balk, putting Cade Belyeu on third, with an RBI single. Pinch-hitter Carter Wright then took advantage of his bases-loaded opportunity with a two-RBI double into the gap in right-centerfield. Maners capped the inning with a three-run homerun, to put the Tigers up 8-3.
The Tigers wasted no time adding to their lead, as they scored five more runs the very next inning. Belyeu led the inning off getting on base with a HBP before Javon Hernandez singled moving Belyeu to third base. Third Base was right where he needed to be for Irish to record his third RBI of the game with a sac fly. After another walk from the Jax State bullpen, the bases were loaded. Cooper McMurray capatlized with a grand-slam, his 10th homer of the year.
The Tigers used four pitchers en route to their win. Dylan Watts, Alex Petrovic and Zach Crotchfelt went one inning a piece. Watts had no trouble, retiring every batter he faced and struck two of them out. Petrovic got himself into what looked to be some trouble allowing singles to his first two batters. Petrovic also allowed a walk but struck out three batters to avoid any runs being scored. Crotchfelt walked and struck out two in his lone inning of scoreless baseball, allowing no hits.
Eric Guevara made his debut for the orange and blue after being slated to miss the whole season due to injury. Head Coach Butch Thompson said after the game that he will slowly play more to get ready for a full-on return to the diamond. The Tigers were also active on the bases tonight with four stolen bases led by team leader Cooper Weiss, who is now 21-23 on the season.
The Tigers head to the number four ranked Texas A&M Aggies for another SEC series starting on Thursday, March 28 at 6:00 p.m. CT.
