Auburn Baseball: Offense Leads Tigers to Series-Opening Win

Auburn Baseball feels Bulldog’s bite early, but an 8-run 4th inning helps propel Auburn to a 15-7 series-opening win over Bryant on Friday at Plainsman Park

When Casey Mize takes the mound for Auburn (6-0), it’s almost guaranteed that Tiger fans will see a dominating performance on the mound from the junior. Friday’s game was an exception. The Bryant Bulldogs, who entered the game winless after being swept last weekend at Arizona, quickly jumped on Auburn, scoring four runs over the first three innings of the game. Auburn responded by scoring eight runs in the 4th inning and would continue to score in every inning until the final out was recorded, to remain undefeated on the young season.

Auburn’s big 4th inning

Finding themselves down 4-0 at the end of the third inning, and leaving six runners on base up to that point, Auburn needed to create momentum. Scoring eight runs on three hits in the bottom half of the 4th inning would be enough to do it. Brett Wright would begin the rally by hitting a solo home run to the scoreboard in left-center field to cut the Bulldog lead to 4-1.

Luke Jarvis would ground out in the next at-bat, bringing up Jay Estes with two out. Estes would take four straight pitches out of the zone, and would also begin a string of eight-straight batters to reach base. Conor Davis reached on a throwing error, Brendan Venter, Josh Anthony, and Dylan Ingram walked in consecutive order, Will Holland scored two runs on a single, and Steven Willams cleared the bases with his second home run of the season to right-center field.

The 4th-inning rally would light a spark in Auburn offensively, as the Tigers would score at least one run in every inning until the game ended. Anthony with a sacrifice fly in the 5th, Jarvis with an RBI single in the 6th, a double-play grounder from Holland in the 7th to score Venter, and Estes, Jeremy Johnson, and Holland each picking up and RBI in the 8th inning.

Bulldogs; Panno rough up Mize and Schilleci

Bryant’s bats lit up Auburn’s first two pitchers of the night, especially third baseman Tyler Panno. Panno would hit two home runs in the game, off of Casey Mize and Blake Schilleci. Starter Casey Mize allowed four runs on four hits in his first three innings of work, including two home runs, including a two-run shot off the bat of Panno in the 3rd inning. There was a silver lining to Mize’s second outing of the season, the junior struck out nine batters over five complete innings, and earned the win, improving to 2-0 on the season.

Schilleci replaced Mize in the top of the sixth inning, and would last only 1.2 innings. After allowing only one hit in the sixth, Bryant’s Panno nailed his second home run of the game, this time a three-runner, over the right-field wall. Cory Herndon, Welby Malczewski, and Peyton Glavine would finish the game for Auburn, only allowing one more hit to Bryant.

Panno finished 2-for-3 at the plate, and was responsible for six of Bryant’s seven runs.

Williams continues to impress

We knew heading into the season that Steven Williams would be special. The freshman from Albany, Georgia hit a three-run home run in his first Auburn at-bat last Saturday against Longwood, ending the day with seven RBI. Williams got the start in right field in Friday’s game, and added to his total. He nailed his second career home run over the right-field wall in the fourth inning, which now makes him the team leader in RBI with 10. Williams finished the night 3-for-6 with three RBI.

Next up for Auburn

With inclement weather expected for Auburn on Sunday, tomorrow will see Auburn and Bryant play a twin bill. Game one gets underway at 1 P.M., with game two beginning at approximately 5 P.M. Both games will be played at Plainsman Park, and broadcasted online on SEC Network+. 

GAME ONE: 

Davis Daniel (AU) vs Jack Patterson (BU), 1 P.M.

GAME TWO: 

Tanner Burns (AU) vs Vitto Morgese (BU), 5 P.M.