BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Auburn answered every inning Texas A&M scored on its way to defeating the Aggies, 13-9, and clinching the series Sunday afternoon at Blue Bell Park.
Dating back to last year's road wins at Georgia and LSU, it marks the first time Auburn has won three straight SEC road series since 2004. It's also the Tigers first series win at Texas A&M since 2013.
"We were fully invested in this series, and it was nice to get this one," head coach Butch Thompson said. "We've been preaching to just let the score take care of itself. We knew what the score was, but they just kept playing and kept adding, which was huge."
Auburn's eight and nine hitters in Nate LaRue and Plano, Texas, native Cole Foster went a combined 6-for-10 with four runs and seven RBI and each finished a triple shy of the cycle.
"It felt awesome coming back on the diamond with these guys," Foster said. "This means a lot, especially with all of the work we've put into this series. Everyone had a part. It wouldn't have been done if we all weren't 100 percent into the game."
Tied 8-8 through six innings, Auburn scored two in the seventh and three more in the eighth to secure the series win.
After homering earlier in the game, LaRue hit a ground rule double on the 11th pitch of his at-bat to break the tie in the seventh and eventually came in to score on a wild pitch thanks to some fancy footwork around home plate. LaRue totaled career highs with three hits and five RBI in the game.
"I was just trying to stay up there and fight pitches off the best I could," LaRue said of his 11-pitch, ground-rule double. "This is a big one for us. It's going to be a great time on the way back. I know the guys are all excited."
Mike Bello extended the advantage to three runs with a bases-loaded walk in the eighth, and Josh Hall drove in a pair on a single through the right side after entering the game as a defensive replacement the inning prior.
Texas A&M scratched a run across in the ninth, but it was too little, too late as Blake Burkhalter finished his second game of the weekend.
"This is something to build off because we'll have to do this again next weekend," Thompson added. "We need to reset, recover, and get right back to playing more baseball."
Texas A&M (14-9, 3-3 SEC) jumped out to a lead with a three-run first inning, but Auburn (17-7, 3-3 SEC) answered immediately with three runs of its own in the top of the second. LaRue got things going with a two-out, two-run homer, and Blake Rambusch followed Foster's double with a RBI single through the right side. The knock extended Rambusch's hit streak to 14 games, the longest by an Auburn player since 2017.
The Aggies followed a leadoff single and walk with a three-run home run to reclaim the lead, 6-3, in the bottom of the second. However, Auburn answered again with three runs on four singles. LaRue tied the game, 6-6, with his second two-RBI at-bat in as many trips to the plate.
The back-and-forth affair continued in the middle innings. Texas A&M took the lead on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth, but Foster gave Auburn its first lead of the game with a two-run homer in the fifth, his second in as many games.
The Aggies tied the game with another sacrifice fly in the sixth, but LaRue's aforementioned ground-rule double in the two-run seventh gave the Tigers the lead for good.
Chase Allsup (1-0, 2.00) pitched the sixth inning and earned his first win in an Auburn uniform. Mason Barnett settled things down in the third through fifth innings, while Carson Skipper pitched two scoreless thanks to a pair of double plays to allow the Tigers to extend the lead in the late stages.
Along with LaRue and Foster offensively, Rambusch collected his 13th multi-hit game of the year, including his seventh in the last eight games. Bello also collected multiple hits and scored four runs.
Auburn returns to the Plains to take on Jacksonville State (11-11) Tuesday at 6p.m. before a Thursday-Saturday series at No. 18 LSU (17-7, 3-3 SEC).
