April 13, 2017
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Luke Jarvis homered and tripled as No. 10 Auburn baseball dropped Tennessee 3-2 to win its fifth-straight SEC series opener Thursday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
"Luke Jarvis had the big night with the home run and the triple down the right-field line," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. "Josh Anthony got a double to both sides of the field, I believe, so that was a good night. We did enough to score and then Casey Mize gave us another great six innings. Especially what he has given us the last three weeks."
Mize (6-1) pitched six shutout innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. He allowed only three hits. Cole Lipscomb pitched 2.1 innings of relief, but was lifted after allowing two runs in the ninth. Andrew Mitchell got the final two outs for his third save.
Mize has not allowed a run over his last 16 innings. He leads the SEC with 82 strikeouts this season. Auburn improved to 11-2 in one-run games.
Auburn (26-10, 9-4 SEC) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a pair of doubles. Jonah Todd led off the game with a double, then two batters later Conor Davis doubled him home for the early advantage.
Jarvis hit his third home run of the season in the second inning to extend Auburn's lead to 2-0.
Jarvis finished 2-for-4 with a homer, triple and two runs scored. Josh Anthony doubled twice. Todd doubled and scored a run.
Auburn stretched the lead to 3-0 in the seventh when Jarvis tripled and Damon Haecker got him home with a sac fly.
The Vols (17-14, 3-10 SEC) ended the shutout bid in the ninth with a run-scoring ground out by Benito Santiago and a RBI single from Andre Lipcius.
Tennessee's Hunter Martin pitched a complete game with three runs allowed one seven hits. He struck out seven with no walks. Six different Vol hitters recorded a hit.
Six of Auburn's seven hits on the night went for extra bases. The Tigers turned two double plays on the night and have recorded 37 on the season.
Auburn and Tennessee continue the series Friday at 5 pm CT.