AUBURN, Ala. – No. 17 Auburn completed a three-game sweep of Chicago State with a 9-0 win Sunday afternoon at Plainsman Park.
The Tigers turned in 13 or more hits in all three contests and allowed just two runs in the series, outscoring the Cougars 31-2. The two runs allowed are the fewest in a series since allowing just one run in three games vs. Longwood in 2018.
"Just up and down the lineup, we had five guys with two or more hits but the biggest takeaway for me was one strikeout," head coach Butch Thompson said. "That's growth in my opinion. We're starting to play with some consistency there."
Five players turned in two or more hits for the third straight game in the series, led by Conor Davis and Judd Ward's three hits apiece.
"We put it all together, especially today, but also the weekend as a whole," Davis said. "Pitchers did their job all weekend getting ahead and throwing strikes. The batting lineup did a great job all the way through doing their job, making hard connect. I think we did a great job all weekend."
Bailey Horn (3-1, 2.08) turned in a career day on the mound. The lefty struck out a season and career-high 11 batters and didn't issue a walk in 6.0 scoreless innings.
"Being efficient out there helped me get ahead of the hitters and was a big part of it today," Horn said. "Having some of the run support made it easier to pitch. I thought we played well together as a team."
The Waco, Texas native faced just two batters over the minimum, and Auburn faced just four over in the ballgame. The Tigers never faced more than four Cougars in any inning as Blake Burkhalter, Carson Skipper and Mason Barnett each tossed a frame in relief.
Ward sparked the offense as he led off the third with a single, made a good read on a ball in the dirt to advance to second, stole third and scored on a throwing error. An inning later, he came back around and dropped down a safety squeeze to double the advantage.
"Judd Ward was right in the middle of it today," Thompson added. "He had the steal of third base and he was able to score the first run, and then we tried to do the safety squeeze to try to get one and start building to find that lead. The last two balls, Judd hit them about as hard as you could hit them. He played great."
Auburn continued to add to the lead as Rankin Woley drove in a pair of runs on a two-RBI single in the fifth, and the Tigers tacked on three more in the sixth. Davis hit a sacrifice fly to right field before Matt Scheffler and Kason Howell hit back-to-back RBI singles.
John Samuel Shenker, Brayton Brown, Mason Greer and Tyler Miller came through with pinch-hit singles in the eighth, and Greer's two-run base hit capped off the scoring in the contest.
The sweep was Auburn's second straight and third in non-conference play this season.
The Tigers (13-3) host a pair of midweek games against Georgia Tech (10-5) and Wofford (13-3) Tuesday and Wednesday before starting SEC play vs. Texas A&M (14-3) Friday-Sunday at Plainsman Park.