The Auburn Tigers defeated No. 8-ranked Oregon State 8-7 at Globe Life Field on the second day of the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series in Arlington, Texas.
The game began with Cade Fisher on the mound for Auburn, recording a quick strikeout. Oregon State's Aiva Arquette walked, but Fisher responded with two more strikeouts. In the bottom of the first, a flyout gave Oregon State its first out, followed by freshman right-hander Dax Whitney recording back-to-back strikeouts for the Beavers.
In the second inning, OSU’s Jacob Krieg led off with a base hit. Auburn’s Deric Fabian executed a stellar double play, giving the Tigers their first two outs. However, a home run by OSU’s Canon Reeder gave the Beavers a 1-0 lead. Cade Fisher struggled to find the strike zone, prompting Auburn to bring in Cam Tilly. After a few more hits and back-to-back walks, a wild pitch by Tilly allowed Oregon State to extend its lead to 2-0. Auburn escaped the inning as Tilly struck out the next batter.
Auburn responded in the bottom of the second. Cooper McMurray struck out swinging but reached first on a wild pitch. Fabian drew a walk, and Chris Rembert followed with a ground-rule double to tie the game at 2-2. Despite a flyout and groundout, Auburn managed to get on the board.
In the third inning, Cam Tilly continued his strong performance, striking out the first two batters before allowing a home run to OSU’s Gavin Turley. Auburn responded as Ike Irish hit a triple and later scored after a walk to McMurray, tying the game at 3-3.
In the top of the fourth, Auburn turned a double play to bring its offense back to the plate. Oregon State’s Dax Whitney struck out Bub Terrell, giving him his sixth strikeout. Whitney threw 85 pitches before being replaced on the mound by Zach Kmatz. However, Kmatz couldn't stop Auburn’s offense, and the bases loaded. Another new pitcher, Wyatt Queen, entered for OSU. Queen hit an Auburn batter, bringing in a run and giving Auburn its first lead, 4-3.
The fifth inning began with Carson Meyers taking the mound for Auburn. Meyers pitched a scoreless inning. Chris Rembert hit Auburn’s first home run of the weekend, a two-run shot that scored McMurray and extended the lead to 6-3.
At the start of the sixth inning, Auburn turned its third double play of the game. Oregon State made another pitching change, replacing Queen with Tanner Douglas. Ike Irish singled to left-center, allowing Cade Belyeu to advance to third. Eric Snow then scored, making it 7-3. Belyeu then stole home to push the score to 8-3. OSU’s coaching staff replaced Douglas with AJ Hutcherson, who closed the inning with a groundout.
In the top of the seventh, Auburn continued its strong infield defense to quickly return to the plate. Right-hander AJ Hutcherson struck out two Auburn batters in the bottom of the seventh.
In the top of the eighth, Gavin Turley homered to left-center, a two-run shot that brought in Tyce Peterson and cut Auburn’s lead to 8-5. In the bottom half, Eric Snow hit a single but was caught stealing second.
The ninth inning was Oregon State’s final chance to rally. Hayden Murphy entered to pitch for the Tigers. A flyout gave Auburn its first out. Murphy walked OSU’s Easton Talt. Trent Caraway hit a double, advancing Talt to third. Auburn then called a timeout to regroup.
Easton Talt scored on a passed ball, trimming Auburn’s lead to 8-6. Arquette then singled to center field, allowing Caraway to score, making it 8-7. Auburn brought in Jet Johnston to close the game. Johnston struck out the next batter for the second out, and a flyout sealed the win for Auburn.
The Tigers will face Baylor on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT in Arlington, Texas, to wrap up the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series.
