AUBURN, Ala. – No. 22 Auburn scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back as the Tigers ultimately defeated No. 18 Boston College, 16-1, to even the series Saturday at Plainsman Park.
The 15-run margin of victory is the Tigers largest against a ranked opponent since 2007.
"What we've done is dug out of a hole and we'll call it step one at this point, but there's much more work to do," head coach Butch Thompson said. "We played good baseball and got off to a good start today, but I don't think we're going to be satisfied until we figure out a way we can hopefully win this series."
Freshman two-way player Cam Hill hit a grand slam in the first inning to get the Auburn offense going, and junior infielder Tyler Miller turned in his fourth straight multi-hit effort, going 3-for-3 with a homer and career high six RBI in the contest.
"When you're hitting the ball well, everything slows down," Miller said. "You don't have to get a hit every time. You just go up there with the confidence that you're going to do what your squad needs you to do."
Sophomore right-hander Mason Barnett (1-0, 0.84) earned his first career win in his second start of the season. The Cartersville, Georgia, native pitched 5.1 innings and allowed one unearned run on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
"The main thing today was just trying to get ahead and stay ahead," Barnett said. "That's what the game plan was.
"The rhythm came really from the first pitch, having that first pitch ground ball back to me," Barnett added. "I was ready to roll after that."
The Tigers scored three or more runs in four of the first five innings and jumped out to a 15-0 lead.
After the first two batters of the game were retired, five straight Auburn players reached and came in to score. Bryson Ware got things going with a two-out, bases-loaded infield single, and Hill followed with his aforementioned grand slam to cap off the five-run first.
The Tigers added to the advantage with three runs in the third, three in the fourth and four in the fifth. Miller slapped a two-RBI single back up the middle to highlight the third inning, while Steven Williams hit a two-run shot to right field in the fourth. It was Williams' second home run of the season and 25th of his Auburn career.
After driving in another run to make it 11-0 through four, Miller came back around in the fifth, following a RBI single from Ryan Bliss earlier in the inning, and hit a three-run home run on top of the player development center in right field. The home run was Miller's 12th hit in his last 14 at-bats.
Boston College scored an unearned run on a passed ball in the sixth, but Rankin Woley got the run back with a solo home run to center field in the seventh. The home run was Woley's second of the season, and the graduate infielder turned in two hits for the second straight day.
Freshman right-hander Carson Swilling pitched 1.2 scoreless innings of relief, marking his third straight scoreless outing to start his Auburn career.
Swilling gave way to Hayden Mullins in the eighth, and the sophomore lefty turned in 2.0 scoreless innings, matching a career high by striking out four of the seven batters he faced.
Fifteen position players saw action in the contest, and four turned in two or more hits.
The rubber match between the top 25 foes is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. CT at Plainsman Park.
No. 22 Auburn evens series with 16-1 win vs. No. 18 Boston College
Tyler Miller celebrates with teammates after his three-run homer.