Tigers jump out early to win series at No. 20 Georgia

ATHENS, Ga. – Auburn scored seven runs in the first three innings and never looked back as the Tigers ultimately defeated No. 20 Georgia, 9-7, to clinch the series Saturday afternoon at Foley Field.
 
"We've had similar games, and it's just nice to finally break through and feel good leaving the park on a game three," head coach Butch Thompson said.
 
A three-run first, three-run second and one-run third gave Auburn (19-21, 5-16 SEC) a 7-0 lead right out of the gate. Georgia (27-16, 10-11 SEC) cut the deficit to three in the middle innings, but the Tigers held on for the win behind a strong relief outing from Carson Swilling, who recorded the final 10 outs and earned his second save of SEC play.
 
"We had two keys to the ballgame, the first was Carson Swilling," Thompson added. "We got very stubborn there at the end and were not going to make another move. I thought he was making enough quality pitches and throwing enough strikes. Then our offense, you talk about multiple guys at the top of the lineup with multiple hits. You just have to give it to the entire offense."
 
"I wanted the ball," Swilling said. "The team was behind me and the energy was up. It's always the same game. It's never going to change. Growing up, I always wanted to be out there, and I'm always going to give it 100 percent."
 
Eight of Auburn's nine starters recorded a hit six drove in a run. Five players in Ryan Bliss, Tyler Miller, Rankin Woley, Steven Williams and Bryson Ware turned in multi-hit games.
 
"I've said it all year long, we are a really good team," Woley said. "This conference is not forgiving, and you just have to come out and play every single day. I'm happy we came out here and took care of business this weekend."
 
Similar to Friday, Auburn wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard with three runs in the first. Williams and Brody Moore hit back-to-back RBI singles and Ware capped off the frame with a sacrifice fly to left.
 
The Tigers kept it going with three more in the second, all coming with two outs. Bliss hit a two-out RBI double in the second to start a string of four straight two-out hits. Miller followed with his 50th RBI of the season on a single through the right side and Williams drove in his second run in as many innings with a single down the left field line to make it 6-0.
 
Auburn collected nine hits in its first 16 batters and scored for the sixth straight frame going back to last night on Judd Ward's RBI groundout in the top of the third.
 
However, while reliever Liam Sullivan turned in 4.0 shutout innings on the mound, Georgia chipped away at Auburn's lead with two runs in the third, one in the fourth and another in the sixth to cut the lead to 7-4.
 
The Tigers were held scoreless from the fourth through seventh innings, but Ward drove in his second run of the game on RBI triple off the top of the wall with one out in the eighth. Miller followed two batters later with his second RBI of the contest on a single back up the middle to extend the lead to 9-4.
 
Georgia made things interesting with three runs on four hits and a hit-by-pitch in the ninth, but Swilling shut the door with a strikeout to end the game.
 
Trace Bright (4-4, 7.71) earned his team best fourth win in the designated start. Blake Burkhalter turned in a scoreless frame, and Joseph Gonzalez pitched for the second time in as many days, going 2.2 innings in the middle portion of the game.
 
Auburn returns to Plainsman Park for four games next week, starting with a midweek game against UAB Tuesday at 6 p.m.