May 6, 2014
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AUBURN, Ala. - Led by a three-hit, four-RBI night from sophomore Jordan Ebert, Auburn's offense broke out for 13 hits in a 9-1 win over Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday night at Plainsman Park.
The Tigers (26-23) snapped a three-game skid, scoring all nine runs in a three-inning stretch while also drawing a season-high eight walks. Bethune-Cookman (22-28) lost for the third time in four trips to Plainsman Park.
Ebert went 3-for-4 with four RBIs while scoring a pair of runs as Auburn saw eight different players get record at least one hit on the night. Keegan Thompson was 2-for-3 with a double and his first career triple, and Anfernee Grier and Blake Austin had two hits as well. Dan Glevenyak was 1-for-2 with two RBIs.
The Tigers also got a strong performance on the mound from five different pitchers. Junior Daniel Koger (2-0) turned in a season-long outing, picking up his second win in allowing one run on four hits while walking a pair and striking out four.
Auburn's bullpen, aided by an unlikely source, allowed just two hits over the final three innings. Justin Camp pitched a shutout seventh and Trey Cochran-Gill hurled a scoreless ninth.
Senior Ryan Tella made his first collegiate appearance on the mound, coming in from center field to relieve Robby Clements with two out in the eighth. Tella threw nine pitches to two batters, walking the first but inducing a groundout to end the inning.
Bethune-Cookman struck first with a two-out RBI single to take a 1-0 lead in the third. But Auburn answered in a big way with a four-run fourth, scoring all four runs with two outs. The Tigers tied it up when Tella walked, stole second and scored on Ebert's first RBI single to make it 1-1. After Ebert stole second, Thompson laced an RBI triple into the right-field corner to score Ebert and make it 2-1.
After a walk to Glevenyak, Grier singled home Ebert to give Auburn a 3-1 lead, and an RBI single from Damon Haecker scored Glevenyak to make it 4-1.
Auburn added three more in the fifth, starting when Damek Tomscha, Tella and Ebert delivered three straight singles to make it 5-1. Following a double steal, Glevenyak drove home Tella and Ebert with a two-RBI single to give the Tigers a 7-1 lead.
The scoring was capped in the sixth when, with two outs, Ebert ripped a two-RBI double down the left field line to score Austin and Haecker.
Tella was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning, marking the 73rd time this season an Auburn player has been plunked, which ties the school record. The Tigers tied a second school record by turning four double plays on the night.
Auburn will make its final road trip in SEC play this weekend as the Tigers travel to Lexington, Kentucky, for a three-game series against the Kentucky Wildcats. Game times are set for 5:30 p.m. CT Friday, 6 p.m. CT Saturday and noon CT Sunday.