AUBURN, Ala. – No. 15 Auburn and Georgia Southern battled for 13 innings and more than four hours for the second straight night, but this time it was the Tigers that emerged victorious by a score of 4-3 Sunday afternoon at Plainsman Park.
After Ryan Bliss battled at the plate and ultimately drew a walk with one out in the 13th inning, Kason Howell stepped to the plate and drew a four-pitch walk to score Edouard Julien and send his teammates pouring out of the dugout down the first-base line.
"Coach Gross talks a lot about being confident and having focus," Howell said. "I knew he was struggling with the curveball and the infield was in so I was looking for a fastball a little up. He wasn't giving it to me. Having a simple plan and staying within myself really helped. It was a little nerve-wracking, I'm not going to lie, but it turned out good."
The series win was Auburn's 11th straight in the non-conference dating back to the season-opening series in 2016.
"I thought we played slightly tight and had tension in our game for two days," head coach Butch Thompson said. "We're thankful to win a series, always. I know they have a veteran ball club that played the game so well. We're very fortunate to win. I like our club seeing our first weekend, and it's just a starting point."
Four of Auburn's first five hitters collected a pair of hits Sunday with one of Julien's being the team's first inside-the-park home run since 2013.
On the mound, Jack Owen (1-0, 0.00) threw 4.2 innings of scoreless relief and picked up the win. Owen, who struck out four batters in the game, got into a bases-loaded jam with one out in the top of the 11th inning. However, the left-hander used a strikeout and defended his position well on a comebaker to escape the jam unscathed.
"The year of experience and understanding that you are a good pitcher and the hitter still gets out more often than you fail is something you have to remember," Owen said. "Sometimes guys give a little too much credit, and I did it last year, but that's just what a year of experience under your belt will do for you."
Trailing 2-1 in the seventh inning, Julien lifted a 2-1 pitch his and deep the left field. As the ball hit of the wall and ricocheted off the Georgia Southern left fielder, Julien was able to circle the bases and tie the game on the aforementioned inside-the-parker.
An inning later, Rankin Woley drove the first pitch he saw into right field to score Everett Lau and give the Tigers a 3-2 lead. However, Georgia Southern was able to scratch a run across in its next at-bat and send the game to extra innings for the second straight day.
An inning and a half prior to Auburn's walk-off, Georgia Southern threatened as Christian Avant hit a flare into shallow right field, but Steven Williams made a diving catch against his counterpart to hold the Eagles off the scoreboard and give the Tigers another chance.
Alongside Owen, three Auburn pitchers made their debut for the Tigers in the game. Bailey Horn was effective in relief as he tossed 3.0 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits. Starter Kyle Gray worked 3.0 innings and allowed a pair of unearned runs on two hits with three strikeouts. Freshmen Richard Fitts came in for Horn to start the seventh inning and allowed just one run on two hits over 2.1 innings.
Auburn continues its stretch of five games in six days to start the season with a pair of midweek contests against Alabama A&M at 4 p.m. CT Tuesday and Wednesday at Plainsman Park.