April 29, 2017
STARKVILLE, Miss. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Cole Lipscomb pitched a season-long 4.2 innings in relief as No. 5 Auburn baseball defeated No. 8 Mississippi State 17-8 in game one of a doubleheader Saturday at Dudy Noble Field.
Auburn's 17 runs were a season high and the most in a SEC game since an 18-4 victory over Ole Miss in 2010.
Will Holland gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a sac fly to left that scored Josh Anthony. Mississippi State responded in the bottom half with a 2-run home run by Harrison Bragg for a 2-1 lead.
Holland finished with three RBI and two runs scored. Anthony had two hits, two RBI and scored three times.
Brent Rooker's 18th home run made it 3-1 Bulldogs in the third.
Auburn erupted for seven runs in the fourth inning capped by a grand slam from Dylan Ingram. Anthony opened the scoring when he came home on a wild pitch, Jonah Todd singled in a run with the bases loaded and Jay Estes followed with a sac fly to left as the Tigers moved in front.
Todd has three hits and a career-best four RBI. Ingram scored four times and had four RBI with two hits. Estes and Conor Davis both had two hits.
The grand slam was Auburn's third in 11 games after not hitting one for a stretch of 276 games dating back to 2012. Ingram is the first Auburn player with two grand slams in a season since Zach Alvord in 2012. Todd's single extended his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games.
Auburn's seven-run fourth was the 18th time in 2017 the Tigers have scored four or more runs in an inning.
Holland added another sac fly in the fifth for a 9-3 lead as he brought home Jeremy Johnson. The Bulldogs refused to go away and answered with four of their own in the bottom of the fifth including a 3-run homer by Cody Brown to close within a pair, 9-7.
Cody Brown had four RBI. Rooker tallied three hits.
Anthony doubled home a run in the sixth and MSU came back with a run in the seventh. Todd roped a 3-run triple and scored on a wild pitch in the eighth to extend Auburn's lead to 15-8. Holland also drew a bases-loaded walk in the frame to bring home a run.
The Tigers tacked on two more in the ninth on a RBI ground out by Anthony and a sac fly from Johnson for a 17-8 advantage. Johnson singled and scored twice in the game.
Lipscomb (4-0) scattered four hits in parts of five innings and allowed just one run with four strikeouts and no walks. Davis Daniel started and allowed seven runs in 4.1 innings pitched.
Cole Gordon (2-1) took the loss with five runs allowed in three innings. The Bulldogs used four relievers in the game.
Auburn is off in the midweek due to final exams. The Tigers host Alabama for three games at Plainsman Park next weekend beginning Friday at 6 pm CT.