Fitts turns in gem as Tigers clinch series at Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Auburn starter Richard Fitts turned in a career-best 8.0 shutout innings as Auburn clinched the series at Missouri with a 3-0 win Friday night at Taylor Stadium.
 
The win marks Auburn's first shutout of SEC play, and Fitts' 8.0 innings were the most by an Auburn starter since Jack Owen's complete-game shutout against UTSA on Mar. 9, 2019.
 
"Two of his last three starts have been great," head coach Butch Thompson said of Fitts. "The LSU start, we got more of a look at that, but we got another level of stuff especially when we needed it."
 
The victory was also Auburn's fifth in its last six SEC games dating back to May 8.
 
"Tonight is all about Richard Fitts outdueling a guy that we knew was probably their best," Thomspon added. "Fitts said this is my game."
 
Fitts (1-3, 5.88) retired the first 14 batters he faced before allowing a two-out single in the fifth. He then set down the next 10 to ultimately face just one over the minimum in his outing. His seven strikeouts matched a season high.
 
"I felt really good," Fitts said. "My game plan coming in was just to pound the strike zone and make them hit it. I thought I did a good job of that, and I know the guys behind me have my back. I thought I executed well and gave my team a chance to win."
 
Carson Skipper entered to start the ninth and allowed the first three Missouri batters to reach on a pair of singles and a walk. However, Skipper buckled down to get a strikeout and ground ball double play to end the game and earn his second save.
 
Auburn (25-25, 10-19 SEC) started the scoring in the top of the first as Tyler Miller won a nine-pitch at-bat with a double to right and came in to score on a Missouri fielding miscue.
 
With the early lead, Fitts struck out five of the first 10 batters he faced and needed just 63 pitched to get through 4.2 hitless innings.
 
Missouri (14-36, 7-22 SEC) put its first baserunner aboard on the aforementioned two-out single, but Fitts got the next batter to fly out to deep right center to end the inning.
 
After working around the first baserunner, Ryan Bliss followed Bryson Ware's one-out single with a two-out, two-run homer to left field to extend the lead to 3-0. The home run was Bliss' 14th of the season, including his 10th of SEC play. He has driven in seven runs in the first two games of the series.
 
"He had some really good stuff," Bliss said of Missouri starter Seth Halvorsen. "Later on in the game, after the first couple at-bats, he went to his soft stuff so I went up there kind of sitting on it. I got one that was kind of hanging and put a good swing on it."
 
Leading 3-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth, Fitts retired nine straight in his last three innings before giving way to Skipper. The junior lefty ultimately closed the door as he induced a 4-6-3 double play – the team's 53rd of the season – to end the game. It marked Skipper's fourth straight outing either earning the win or save.
 
Game three between the two teams in scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.