Feb. 21, 2018
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AUBURN, Ala. -- With the score tied entering the bottom of the eighth inning, Auburn put together a late rally for the second straight game and defeated Troy, 6-5, Wednesday night at Plainsman Park.
After Luke Jarvis led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a double to center field and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, Conor Davis drove in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to right field. It was the second straight night Davis drove in either the game-tying or game-winning run.
Needing a run to extend the game, Troy (4-1) put runners on the corners with one out in the top of the ninth. However, left-hander Welby Malczewski induced a ground ball off the bat of five-hole hitter Brody Binder that turned into a game-ending, 6-4-3 double play. The save was the first of Malczewski's career.
With the win, Auburn improves to 5-0 on the season for the first time since 2001.
"What a great opportunity for Welby to get in the ballgame," head coach Butch Thompson said. "Calvin Coker got us through the eighth inning, and we went to Welby because we think he is a ground ball guy if he gets the ball down in the zone with some sink. He was able to get it, and (Will) Holland and (Luke) Jarvis turned it. We were fortunate to sneak out another ballgame."
Coker (1-0, 1.23) pitched the 3.1 innings of relief prior to Malczewski and earned the win. He allowed one run on one hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Opposite Coker, Troy right-hander Corey Childress (0-1, 1.50) suffered the loss after throwing 3.0 innings of relief.
Auburn jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Jay Estes won an eight-pitch at-bat with a two-out, two-RBI single to center field and Davis followed with a RBI base knock of his own.
However, Troy responded in its next at-bat and took a 4-3 after Auburn committed a pair of errors in the field.
The back-and-forth nature of the game continued in Auburn's next at-bat as catcher Brett Wright ripped a double down the third-base line to score Steven Williams from second and Will Holland all the way from first and reclaim the lead.
Again, though, Troy was able to scratch a run across in the top of the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly to center field, and the game remained tied until the Tigers' aforementioned last at-bat in the bottom of the eighth.
On the mound, southpaw Andrew Mitchell made his first start of the season and matched a career high with nine strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.
Coming off his walk-off hit from Tuesday night, Brendan Venter went 3-for-4 and reached base four times for the second straight game. Davis also collected multiple hits for the second straight game and drove in a pair of runs.
The Tigers continue their busy schedule to start the season as the team hosts Bryant (0-3) for a three-game series at Plainsman Park this weekend. The series opener is scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m. CT followed by game two Saturday at 1 p.m. and the finale Sunday at 12 p.m.