'Never give up': Auburn baseball's Bobby Peirce

'Never give up': Auburn baseball's Bobby Peirce'Never give up': Auburn baseball's Bobby Peirce
Grace Schinsing/AU Athletics

Bobby Peirce

AUBURN, Ala. – Recruiting interest from D-I college baseball programs was something new for Bobby Peirce, especially a coach traveling 1,750 miles from Auburn, Alabama, to his junior college in Phoenix, Arizona.

In the fall of 2019, shortly after Auburn's appearance in the College World Series, assistant coach Karl Nonemaker went out to the desert to talk to Peirce about the Tigers.

Their initial meeting prompted Peirce to visit the Plains a few weeks later.

"My first visit to any Division I school," Peirce recalled. "It was kind of hard to beat. Once I saw it, I was like,' Wow, this is just different.' I looked at a couple other schools but I just fell in love with Auburn."

A two-sport standout in high school, Peirce played golf in the fall, leading his team to a state championship but keeping him off the radar of college baseball coaches. It wasn't until after Bobby's high school graduation that he chose to continue his baseball career at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix.

Weighing 160 pounds when he enrolled, Peirce hit the weights for the first time, added 20 pounds and led his team in home runs and RBI as a freshman, catching Auburn's eye. Injuries derailed his sophomore season, leading to a redshirt, but the Tigers had had seen enough to offer an opportunity.'Hard to beat': Bobby Peirce's recruiting visit to Auburn made a lasting impression
Pierce played sparingly for Auburn in 2021 as a redshirt sophomore before undergoing surgery on both knees, the result, he says, of abnormal kneecap positioning that caused tendon stress.

"A lot of rest, a lot of rehab and they're still not perfect," said Peirce, who made his first start this season at LSU on April 1.

In the span of a month, Peirce went from backup outfielder batting ninth in the lineup to everyday cleanup hitter.

At No. 1 Tennessee last weekend, Peirce was surprised when second baseman Cole Foster glanced at the lineup and alerted Peirce that he would be batting fourth.

"I said, 'Really?'" Peirce said. "I was not expecting that. I've always batted leadoff, second or third, but really never cleanup at all. That was pretty cool. I don't know if they're going to keep rolling with that but I'm not going to ask any questions."

After a slow start in the series, Peirce delivered at a most opportune time, hitting a tie-breaking three-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning of Auburn's 8-6 victory on Saturday.

"I was on the phone with my dad and my mom and said, 'That was probably the best at-bat I've had in my life,'" he said. "Probably the biggest swing of my life for sure."

Peirce homered again in Sunday's series finale. Heading into this weekend's Arkansas series, he's batting .316 with nine extra-base hits, including four homers, the result of hours spent honing his swing in the Josh Donaldson Hitting Lab in Auburn's Player Development Center.'Bobby Barrels': Peirce homered twice at top-ranked Tennessee
"I love to hit," he said. "I love being down there. I'd spend every day down there if I could. I love putting in those swings. It's good to see it finally paying off a little bit.

"We have a lot more to accomplish. It's been a good year so far but we're definitely not satisfied with where we're at."

There were times over the past year when Peirce contemplated calling it a career. An eight-month recovery can do that. Conversations with his parents and coaches strengthened his resolve to endure, a decision that continues to benefit Bobby and Auburn.

"Never give up," he said. "Pushing and pushing and never giving up, and just putting in the work. That's what I would have to say: never give up."'I love to hit': Peirce homered to give Auburn the lead in the first game of a series sweep vs. South Carolina

 

 
 
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer