AUBURN, Ala (EETV) – After a gritty nine innings the Auburn Tigers come out on top and defeat Kentucky 8-7. Kentucky shortstop Tyler Bell drops a pop fly allowing Auburn to scratch the winning run in the top of the ninth.
Coming to the dish with one out and down a run in the ninth Cooper McMurray poked a single into left field. Bristol Carter, pinch-running for McMurray, wasted no time on the basepaths and took second to put himself into scoring position for Chase Fralick’s game-tying double. With two outs and Fralick moving on contact Ike Irish popped a routine popup to the infield. But just as Fralick crossed the plate the ball found itself on the dirt giving Auburn the lead.
Auburn was able to take advantage of multiple pitching blunders from the Wildcats. Four of their runs came from either a walk or hit-by-pitch. They were also able to get on base early in innings and work their at-bats into deep counts chasing Kentucky starter Nic McCay out in the fifth after tossing 94 pitches.
The Tigers were the first to put a run on the board and did so in each of the first three innings. A sac fly from Bub Terrell scored Eric Snow in the first. Lucas Steele started the 2nd inning with a towering solo shot and struck again in the third with a sac fly scoring McMurray.
Sam Dutton was given the nod again to open the series. Dutton had his first rocky start of the season and got knocked around in his five innings of work. Dutton allowed four runs on eight hits. However, after allowing two runs in both the second and third innings he went into full damage control mode and silenced the Wildcat offense to finish his day.
Auburn grabbed the lead and scratched three more runs in the sixth after Eric Guevara and Snow strung together back-to-back doubles after reliever Jackson Nove hit two batters earlier in the inning.
Kentucky wasn’t the only team with pitching woes, however. Auburn’s bullpen allowed the Wildcats back in the game after Jett Johnston plunked Ethan Hindle and allowed him second base on a wild pitch. Hindle would then score from second on a single from the very next batter. The next inning John Armstrong allowed three singles to give the Wildcats a one-run lead in his 0.2 innings.
Kentucky's bullpen put their team in a good situation for the rest of the series after using just three arms. This ensures that they will have more options moving forward than the Tigers who used six arms to secure the win. However, four of these arms were kept under 15 pitches and could come back for another game in the series.
The Tigers will be back in action for game two against the Wildcats on Saturday, March 22 at 1 p.m. CT. Cade Fisher is set for the start for the Tigers and is flashing a 6.75 era.
