Auburn baseball notebook - Mar. 7

This Week in Auburn BaseballWeek 3 Gallery
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Jacob Taylor/AU Athletics

WEEK AT A GLANCEOverall: 11-2
Last Week: 6-0
SEC: 0-0
Non-Conference: 11-2
Streak: W6

Last Week's Results:
Tuesday – vs. Alabama State: W, 13-7
Wednesday – vs. UAB: W, 16-1
Friday – vs. Rhode Island: W, 7-2
Saturday (Game 1) – vs. Rhode Island: W, 16-0
Saturday (Game 2) – vs. Rhode Island: W, 12-0
Sunday – vs. Rhode Island: W, 14-1

This Week's Schedule:
Tuesday – vs. Tennessee Tech in Madison, Ala. (6 p.m.)
Friday – vs. Middle Tennessee (6 p.m.)
Saturday – vs. Middle Tennessee (2 p.m.)
Sunday – vs. Middle Tennessee (1 p.m.)OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEKRyan Dyal – R-So. – C/OF – Senoia, Ga.
6 GP/GS, .368/.458/.842, 7-for-19, 7 R, 3 2B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 2 BB, 2 HBP

  • Led the team and SEC with 12 RBI in six games last week and drove in multiple runs on four occasions, including a career best four runs in the series finale against Rhode Island.
  • Went 6-for-12 with six runs, three doubles, two homers and 10 RBI in four games against the Rams.
  • Hit his first home run of the season in game one of Saturday's doubleheader and hit his first career grand slam in the series finale, ultimately driving in nine runs in the last three games of the series.
  • Reached base a total of 11 times throughout the week and led the team with 16 total bases, good for the fourth most in the league.

Kason Howell – Sr. – CF – Argyle, Texas
6 GP/GS, .455/.519/.636, 10-for-22, 5 R, 4 2B, 7 RBI, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 2 SB

  • Recorded a hit in all six games last week, including matching a career best with three hits in a pair of contests.
  • Led the team with 10 hits and four doubles on the week. His four doubles were tied for the most in the league last week. 
  • Turned in three-hit performances four times in a span of six games from Feb. 25 – Mar. 4.
  • Drove in a run in five of six games last week, including multiple runs on two occasions.

Jake Wyandt – Gr. – C – Laurel, Md.
5 GP/GS, .375/.400/.625, 6-for-16, 5 R, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 1 SB

  • Was second on the team and third in the SEC with 10 RBI in five games, including a career best four RBI in the series finale against Rhode Island.
  • Got Auburn's offense started with his first career homer, a three-run shot, in the series finale against Rhode Island. 
  • Drove in the first run of his Auburn career against Alabama State and followed it up with multiple RBI in three of the next four games.
  • Collected his first hit in an Auburn uniform against UAB and ultimately went 6-for-12 over the last four games.

PITCHERS OF THE WEEKMason Barnett – Jr. – RHP – Cartersville, Ga.
1 GS, 1-0, 1.80 ERA, 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R/1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

  • Made his first start of the season and turned in a season high in innings pitched and strikeouts – just one shy of matching his career best in the latter category.
  • Faced just two batters over the minimum and threw a career-best 70 percent strikes.
  • Didn't walk a batter in a start for the third time in his career, including the second time when throwing 5.0 or more innings.

Trace Bright – Jr. – RHP – Montgomery, Ala.
1 GS, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R/0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

  • Didn't allow an earned run in his third straight start this season, a total of 17.0 innings pitched.
  • Matched a career best in innings for the second straight week and struck out a career best eight batters.
  • Held a no-hitter through 5.1 innings and faced just one batter over the minimum.
  • Threw first-pitch strikes to 13 of 19 batters faced and 68 percent strikes overall in his outing.

Joseph Gonzalez – So. – RHP – Humacao, P.R.
1 GS, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.2 IP, 5 R, 0 R/0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K

  • Turned in a career high in innings and strikeouts in a shutout win against Rhode Island.
  • His start was the longest by an Auburn pitcher this season.
  • Retired 11 straight batters from the second until the fifth inning.
  • Didn't allow a run for the second time in three starts this season.

TEAM NOTESAuburn outscored its opponents 78-11 in six games last week, including 49-3 in a four-game sweep of Rhode Island over the weekend … the three runs allowed are the fewest in a four-game series in program history … the pitching staff didn't allow a run in a span of 27.2 innings from the second inning of the series opener until the fifth inning of the finale … Auburn used a total of 19 pitchers in the six games, 13 of which didn't allow an earned run … the team has allowed 25 runs in the first 13 games of the season, marking the fewest runs in the first 13 games since 1940 … the Tigers tallied double digit runs in five of six games and double digit hits in all six contests last week, hitting .369 as a team during the week … all nine players who started at least five games hit .294 or higher … the six straight games with 10+ hits is the longest such streak since doing it in eight straight games from Mar. 11-22, 2016 … the team's 16 runs against UAB and in game two against Rhode Island were a season high and the most since scoring a program record 33 runs against Alabama A&M last season … Auburn homered a season-high four times in the series finale against Rhode Island, including the first home runs in an Auburn uniform for Brooks Carlson, Garrett Farquhar and Jake Wyandt … four players in Luke Burk, Carlson, Mason Land and Wyandt recorded their first hits in an Auburn uniform during the week … four players in Mike Bello, Carlson, Brody Moss and Wyandt also turned in their first RBI in an Auburn uniform … the team's six-game winning streak is the longest since winning eight straight in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.