Auburn baseball notebook - Apr. 11

Photo GalleryThis Week in Auburn Baseball
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Jacob Taylor/AU Athletics

WEEK AT A GLANCE
Overall: 22-10
Last Week: 3-1
SEC: 7-5
Non-Conference: 15-5
Streak: W1

Last Week's Results:
Tuesday – at UAB: W, 6-4
Friday – vs. No. 12 Vanderbilt: W, 5-1
Saturday – vs. No. 12 Vanderbilt: L, 4-19
Sunday – vs. No. 12 Vanderbilt: W, 8-2

This Week's Schedule:
Tuesday – vs. Samford (6 p.m.)
Thursday – at Mississippi State (7 p.m.)
Friday – at Mississippi State (6 p.m.)
Saturday – at Mississippi State (1 p.m.)
 OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Sonny DiChiara – Sr. – 1B – Hoover, Ala.

4 GP/GS, .412/.474/1.059, 7-for-17, 5 R, 2 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB

  • Recorded a hit in all four games last week, including multiple hits and multiple RBI in a pair of contests.
  • Led the league in total bases (18), while tying for the league lead in homers (three) and tying for third in RBI (eight).
  • Hit the 50th homer of his career in the middle game against Vanderbilt, the third most among active NCAA Division I players.
  • Collected three extra-base hits, including the ninth multi-homer game of this career, and drove in a season-high five runs in the series-clinching win against the Commodores.
  • Is the first Auburn player with a multi-homer game this season.

Bobby Peirce – R-Jr. – OF – Scottsdale, Ariz.

4 GP/GS, .417/.563/.667, 5-for-12, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 1 HBP

  • Led the team with a .417 average and .563 on-base percentage in four games last week.
  • Doubled and scored in the midweek win at UAB and hit a RBI triple in the series-opening win against Vanderbilt.
  • Matched a career high, including his most in an Auburn uniform, with three hits and a walk in the series-clinching win against the Commodores.

 

PITCHERS OF THE WEEK
Joseph Gonzalez – So. – RHP – Humacao, P.R.

1 GS, 1-0, 1.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R/1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

  • Turned in Auburn's first SEC complete game since Casey Mize in 2018 and the second by an SEC pitcher in league play in the Tigers' series-clinching win against Vanderbilt.
  • His effort came after Vanderbilt had scored 19 runs on 23 hits in the middle game of the series.
  • Matched a career high with eight strikeouts and didn't issue a walk in his second straight quality start.
  • Faced the minimum in four innings of work and didn't allow two base runners at the same time until two outs in the ninth.

 

TEAM NOTES
Auburn defeated Vanderbilt in two of three games to win its third straight SEC series for the first time since 2017 … the Tigers are one of four teams from the league to win three of the first four SEC weekends, including the only team from the SEC West and one of three teams in the conference to win three of the first four SEC series with two series wins coming on the road … through four weeks of conference play, the team sits a game out of first place in the SEC West with a 7-5 record in league play … the Tigers improved to 6-4 against ranked opponents this season with all 10 games coming against top-12 opponents … Auburn's total attendance of 11,817 in three games against Vanderbilt was the fourth most in a weekend series in the history of Plainsman Park … Auburn's win in the series opener marked head coach Butch Thompson's 200th win in an Auburn uniform, becoming the third head coach to accomplish the feat (Nix, Baird) … the Tigers struck out 15 batters in the series opener against Vanderbilt, marking the most strikeouts in a nine-inning SEC game since Casey Mize's 15-strikeout game against Vanderbilt in 2018 … that performance from Mize was also the last SEC complete-game by an Auburn pitcher before Gonzalez did so Sunday … DiChiara continues to lead the league in batting average (.452), on-base percentage (.595) and slugging percentage (.946) … the senior slugger also leads the league in all three categories during conference play … leadoff hitter Blake Rambusch leads the league in hits overall (51) and in SEC play (22) … Rambusch has reached base in 88 of 89 games dating back to the final 13 games of 2019.