Heading into this weekend’s massive SEC series at No. 7 Texas A&M, Auburn head coach Butch Thompson preached to his team that they wanted this journey, meaning they wanted this tough end to the season that includes the matchup against the Aggies, at Mississippi State and then at home against Georgia.
So far, so good, as the No. 6 Tigers came out on Saturday and made a statement, taking both games and the series from A&M with two very different wins: an 18-5 rout in the first one, and then a close 5-4 victory in the second game.
“It’s just a mark of three guys pitched today in a doubleheader on the road against a top-10 team and got it done,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “Really good pitching that we have confidence and faith in held up. I know it’s an offensive day to talk about, and it should be, but nonetheless our pitchers are absolutely the reason we won two.”
Auburn sweeps doubleheader at No. 7 Texas A&M
While the bats did the talking for the Tigers in the first game, putting up six runs in the second inning and 19 hits in total, the effort was helped by Andreas Alvarez (8-2), who pitched a complete seven-inning game while striking out 11 in the process.
“It just feels awesome to have our team be in a spot like that and be able to compete like that. It’s just awesome, especially at a place like this,” Alvarez said. “Credit to our offense. They gave me 18 runs, and that just gave me the ability to go out there and throw as many strikes as possible.”
Chase Fralick, fresh off hitting a home run in the first game of the doubleheader, got the Tigers started in the top of the first of the second game, hitting yet another home run, making it five-straight games in which he has hit a dinger. He followed that up with a home run in the third to make it three for the day.
This day was incredible,” Fralick said. “We were fully rested. We haven’t played since Sunday. Six days off is huge, especially at this point in the season, and we took it like we wanted to come out here and show what this team is capable of.”
It was a combination of Jake Marciano (4-3) and Jackson Sanders who got the job done for Thompson’s squad on the mound, getting critical outs from the Aggies to help close out the 5-4 win. Sanders shut the door, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out six in the final three innings.
“I just trusted (Jackson) so much,” Thompson said. “Whether they tied it or walked us off, Jackson is our net for us, and he’s paid huge dividends. We got right where we wanted to. I’m proud of him. He just didn’t get caught up in the moment right there.”
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