March 17, 2018
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AUBURN, Ala. -- Down 4-3 in the eighth inning, Auburn exploded for eight runs in the frame and secured a series win against Texas A&M by defeating the Aggies, 11-5, at Plainsman Park Saturday afternoon.
The win not only marks Auburn's (19-1, 2-0 SEC) seventh this season when trailing or tied in the eighth inning, but also marks the team's 16th series victory dating back to the beginning of last season and the first series win against the Aggies since 2014.
"Will Holland's opposite field home run got us back up off the mat offensively and gave us a charge in the ballgame," head coach Butch Thompson said. "We just continued to play and were fighting for a while. We just kept working and got to the bullpen. Another good sign of resiliency in our ball club was Steven Williams. He stepped to the plate 0-for-4, didn't let it affect him and hit the grand slam to pull away late. It's a good series win against a well-coached ball club."
The Aggies took an early 1-0 advantage after starting the game with back-to-back doubles, but right-hander Davis Daniel settled in over the next four-plus innings, and the Auburn bullpen finished the job. Welby Malczewski (2-0, 5.06) earned his second win in as many outings as he tossed a career high 3.1 innings and allowed one unearned run on one hit with a career-high-matching four strikeouts.
"We harp on winning every series and to do that on Saturday means a lot," Malczewski said. "We get to go out tomorrow and attack and go for that sweep. I think that's a goal every weekend. Just to get the win today with the way we did it, coming from behind, almost as usual it seems like now. It's big. We're getting closer and closer and getting stronger. I don't think there's a worry at any point in that dugout, bullpen or locker room."
For Texas A&M, Cason Sherrod (1-1, 6.11) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on three hits in 1.1 innings of work. The Aggie right-hander had only allowed four earned runs in 15.0 innings entering the day.
With Sherrod on the mound, Jay Estes stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the eighth inning and gave Auburn the lead with a two-RBI single through the left side. Later in the frame, Williams stepped to the plate with the bases still full and deposited a 1-0 fastball over the fence in right-center-field to blow the game open. Auburn's eight runs in the frame matched a season high and marked the Tigers' 18th inning with four or more runs scored.
Texas A&M southpaw John Doxakis kept the Auburn offense at bay through the first four innings, but the Tigers were able to get things rolling in the fifth behind a two-run home run from Holland, which cut the lead to one. The long ball was Holland's third of the season, matching his 2017 total.
Texas A&M got one back in the top of the sixth to make it a two-run ballgame, but Williams cut down an Aggie runner at the plate to limit the damage and end the inning after a review.
Auburn looked as though it tied the game in the bottom half of the inning on one of Brett Wright's two doubles, but the umpires reviewed the play and determined the Auburn runner missed the plate and was out on an appeal made by Texas A&M.
However, the Tigers stayed the course behind a stellar performance in relief from Malczewski and used the aforementioned eight-run eighth to seal the win.
Offensively, eight different Tigers recorded a hit, including two apiece from three through five hitters Brendan Venter, Josh Anthony and Wright. Venter collected his 12th multi-hit game while Williams drove in two or more runs for the ninth time this season and raised his RBI total through 20 games to 27. The home runs from Holland and Williams marked numbers 21 and 22 of the year, a feat that didn't come until the 45th game a season ago.
The Tigers will go for the series sweep against the Aggies at 1 p.m. tomorrow. Auburn will send right-hander Tanner Burns (2-1, 1.69) to the bump opposite Texas A&M right-hander Mitchell Kilkenny (4-0, 1.30).