Auburn baseball: Tigers shock South Carolina Gamecocks

Ladies and gents… can you believe it? Auburn baseball went on the road and did the dang thing. The #3 team in the country, South Carolina, came into the series looking to likely sweep Auburn. Instead, the good guys took 2 of 3 from the Gamecocks and now return home winners of two straight series.

Let’s talk about it.

Auburn baseball vs USCjr G1

Game one got this series off to a rip-roaring start. Tommy Vail got the Friday night nod and was brilliant, with 5 innings off 2 run ball. The entire pitching staff was great as a whole, giving up just one more run on the night.

Meanwhile, the bats did what they’ve done all year: put up runs. Auburn hasn’t been short of runs this year. It’s been pitching that has separated this team from their usual greatness. The offense didn’t let up, with five runs in the middle innings to put this one in safe hands.

Final score: 8-3 Tigers.

Auburn baseball vs USCjr G2

While the bullpen wasn’t quite as good in game 2, it was enough. 5 runs allowed is okay when you score 8+ runs on a regular basis. And that’s exactly what happened. Auburn put up another 9 runs on Saturday night.

Securing the series win was huge. This South Carolina team doesn’t lose many series. The fact that Auburn went into Columbia and won the series in straight sets is incredible.

Final score: 9-5 Tigers.

Auburn baseball vs USCjr G3

South Carolina’s bats finally came alive in game 3. While their pitching wasn’t any better, they made up for it. Auburn’s pitching staff finally ran out of steam and gave up 9 runs to the Gamecocks.

The bats were not to blame, per usual. Another 7 runs gave the Tigers 24 runs on the series, an impressive number against such a stout defensive team. In the end, Auburn just couldn’t make enough outs to keep South Carolina off the board.

Final score: 8-7 Gamecocks.

Conclusion

As a whole, this series was a victory both morally and literally. Going on the road and winning is hard. Doing so against a top 5 team with a bullpen that hemorrhages runs is downright insane. Yet that’s what happened.

Moving forward, Auburn will get a much-needed midweek off before facing LSU this weekend. If the good guys can make it three series wins in a row, the postseason picture gets much better.

As always, War Eagle.