AUBURN, Ala. – After waiting out a three-plus hour weather delay before the start of the game, No. 11 Auburn outlasted Mississippi State 6-5 in a back-and-forth series opener Friday night at Plainsman Park.
The win marked Auburn’s ninth in a series opener this season and was the team’s 10th one-run win of the season, including its second this week.
“I’m just proud of these guys,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “We hung together and worked hard all week. Top to bottom, Rembert got four hits tonight and was awesome to extend innings. I give Pico Kohn a bunch of credit. We knew it was going to be hard to beat that guy. We knew it was going to be a battle. This was a war, and we played enough offense out here tonight to get the one-run win.”
After Mississippi State tied the game, 5-5, with a three-run home run in the top of the seventh, Auburn responded with a run on a two-out double from Cooper McMurray in the home half of the inning to reclaim the lead for good. Eric Snow drew a two-out walk and was running on a 3-1 pitch, which McMurray pulled down the right field to score the game-winning run.
“Not having the weekend we wanted to have in Austin last week, and even Tuesday, a win is a win, but from the offensive point of view, we left a lot of guys on base,” McMurray said. “So being able to come back today with a fresh mindset, facing a really good Friday night guy in the SEC, we put pitches in him and finally got the dam to break. It was just an overall great win for us and our camaraderie in the locker room, all the way around.”
Samuel Dutton turned in his fifth quality start of the season, including his fourth of SEC play, and matched a season high with nine strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched.
“I thought Sam Dutton was absolutely good again,” Thompson said. “He is just so consistent, and we believe we are going to have success with him on the mound. Regardless of who is on the other side, we think we have a chance to win that ballgame, and that proved again tonight.”
Dutton struck out six of the first eight batter he faced, including five straight from the end of the first through the start of the third, and the game remained scoreless through three innings.
Mississippi State (24-18, 6-13 SEC) started the scoring with a leadoff walk followed by a two-run home run from Noah Sullivan in the fourth.
Auburn (29-13, 10-9 SEC) bounced back by putting the first three batters of the bottom of the inning aboard and ultimately taking the lead with four runs. Chase Fralick got things started with a one-out single to left, and Eric Guevara tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center. Chris Rembert then ripped a two-run double down the left field line, marking his third hit in as many at-bats, to give the Tigers the lead.
Dutton responded from allowing his first runs at Plainsman Park in a span of 21.0 innings by retiring the Bulldogs in order in the fifth. Deric Fabian helped out his senior pitcher by ending the inning with a diving catch at shortstop.
The reliable righty allowed a leadoff single in the sixth but ended his outing with his ninth strikeout of the night, matching a season high in the category and stranding the runner on second.
The Tigers extended the lead to 5-2 as Guevara came through with a two-out single through the right side, marking his second RBI of the game.
Carson Myers entered in relief of Dutton to start the seventh, and Mississippi State started the inning with an error before making the mistake pay two batters later with a three-run homer to tie the game, 5-5.
However, Auburn responded for the second time after the Bulldogs scored and reclaimed the lead with the aforementioned go-ahead double from McMurray. The Tigers last four runs in the game were scored with two outs.
Ryan Hetzler took the mound to start the eighth inning and recorded the last six outs to earn his fifth save of SEC play.
Game two between the Tigers and Bulldogs is scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. CT.