The Auburn baseball team is back in the win column after defeating the UAB Blazers 6-5 at Regions Field in Birmingham, AL. After a tough series loss to ranked opponent Boston College over the weekend, the Tigers finished the job in Magic City.
Pitchers Joseph Gonzalez and Hayden Mullins combined to record all 27 outs for the Tigers with Gonzalez making his first career start. He struck out seven of fifteen batters and pitched until Mullins came to relieve him in the sixth, striking out eight more batters.
The two freshmen “stepped up in a big way” according to head coach Butch Thompson, and they allowed only three hits from the Blazers and no walks. The 15 strikeouts in the game are the most this season and Auburn hasn’t had that happen since Tanner Burns pitched versus Cincinnati in 2019.
Back in the win column. ✅#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/unPT20210W
— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) March 10, 2021
The lead changed several times over the course of the game but once Auburn pulled ahead in the eighth there was no coming back for the Blazers:
"Down to its final six outs and trailing by two, Auburn put its first three baserunners of the eighth inning aboard on two walks and a hit-by-pitch, and all three runs came in to score. Tyler Miller lifted a sacrifice fly to left field before Brody Moore drove in the tying and go-ahead runs on a bases-loaded single back up the middle. A fourth run came in on a fielding miscue and made it a 6-4 ballgame."
UAB was able to put up one more point on the board in the bottom of the eighth on an Auburn fielding mistake but Hayden Mullins took care of the next three batters.
Auburn baseball heads into the weekend with an 8-4 record and will host Little Rock at Plainsman Park for a three-game series beginning Friday at 4:00.