Auburn Baseball: Tigers Outlast Troy, Move to 5-0

For the first time since 2001, the Auburn Baseball Tigers begin the season with a 5-0 record.

For the second night in a row, Auburn Baseball (5-0) needed a late-inning run to pull out a victory. Conor Davis’ deep fly to right field was deep enough to score Luke Jarvis from third base in the 8th inning, giving the Tigers the 6-5 win Wednesday night at Plainsman Park.

With the game tied at 5, Jarvis opened the eighth inning by doubling to center field. Jarvis would advance to third thanks to a successful sacrifice bunt by Jay Estes, bringing Davis to the plate. The wind carried Davis’ 0-1 fly ball to right field, deep enough for Jarvis to trot home, giving Auburn the lead for good.

Trojans and Tigers trade leads in middle innings

Neither team could send a run home over the first three innings. Auburn had the closest opportunity to score, as they stranded two runners on base in each of the first two innings. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 4th inning, Jay Estes put Auburn on the board with a single, scoring Will Holland and Steven Williams from second and third base respectively. Conor Davis extended the lead on an RBI single to score Brett Wright.

Auburn led 3-0 before Troy stole the lead in the 5th inning. The Trojans scored four runs on four hits in the inning, forcing Auburn to use two pitchers out of the bullpen. Auburn answered in the bottom half of the sixth inning, regaining the lead after Wright’s 2-RBI double moved Auburn ahead, 5-4.  Troy scored their final run of the game in the 6th inning, tying the game on a sacrifice fly from Joey Denison tying the game at 5-5. The score would remain until Davis’ sacrifice fly in the 8th inning gave Auburn the 6-5 lead and the win.

Mitchell, Coker excel on mound; Malczewski earns save

Andrew Mitchell started his first game of the season on Wednesday. The first eight outs recorded in the New Orleans native’s outing were via strikeout. Mitchell’s outing ended after 4.1 innings thanks to a high pitch count (71 pitches, 53 strikes), striking out nine, allowing four hits and an earned run. Troy would then chase Elliot Anderson after just 0.1 innings, tagging him for three runs and grabbing a 4-3 lead. Calvin Coker was next in line and carried Auburn to the end of the 8th inning. Coker earned his first win of the season after striking out three batters, allowing a walk and an earned run over 3.1 innings. Welby Malczewski slammed the door in the ninth inning, picking up his first save as an Auburn Tiger.

Next up for Auburn

Auburn will take Thursday off, before welcoming Bryant to the Plains beginning Friday. The Bulldogs will visit from Smithfield, Rhode Island, and will enter Friday’s contest with a 0-3 record after being swept on the road at Arizona last weekend. James Ciliento leads all batters with a .500 average (5-for-10) over three games. Pitching will be an area of concern for Bryant, as 5 of the 12 pitchers to make an appearance last weekend have an earned run average of over 10.00. Steve Theetge pitched 7 innings in last Friday’s 4-0 loss to Arizona. He struck out one and allowed two hits.

Auburn (5-0) vs Bryant (0-3)

Friday (5 P.M.)/Saturday (1 P.M.)/Sunday (12 P.M.)

Plainsman Park-Auburn, Alabama