Opening day was not ideal for Auburn baseball, as the Tigers mustered up just three hits and were shut out 3-0 in a loss to the Oklahoma Sooners at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas.
AU essentially only got offensive production from Samford transfer Sonny DiChiara, who had a pair of doubles in his orange and blue debut. DiChiara was not expected to debut until next week so his performance was a beyond pleasant surprise.
Elsewhere, Notre Dame starting pitching transfer Tommy Sheehan pitched a scoreless inning in his first appearance of the season before JUCO transfer Jordan Armstrong threw four scoreless frames to go with five strikeouts.
Hayden Mullins was credited with the loss due to the two-run home run he gave up in the seventh inning to Oklahoma SS Payton Graham, of whom announcers made quite the comparison to the MLB’s 2018 NL MVP…
Ah man…the Christian Yelich comparison from the booth for Peyton Graham came right before he blasted that into the left field seats. #Auburn now down 2-0 to Oklahoma. Top of the 8th.
— Andrew Hughes (@ARJHughes) February 18, 2022
Today, the Tigers look to rebound from their opening day loss against Texas Tech, who took down Michigan 7-6 on a walk-off single from freshman Owen Washburn after coming back from down four.
Fly War Eagle has the odds, line, and TV Channel for the matchup while laying down a prediction:
Auburn baseball vs Texas Tech Odds: Line, Spread, Over/Under
Auburn comes into this one as a +120 underdog. Texas Tech sits as a -150 favorite in their home state. The over/under for the game is set at 12.
Auburn vs Texas Tech prediction
The bats were quiet on Friday for AU, so between the likelihood their own bats wake up and the Red Raiders continue building momentum behind the plate themselves, we’re taking the total runs over 12 (-115) for the Saturday afternoon clash.