AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn baseball used a strong seventh inning to defeat in-state rival Alabama 13-8 in its final fall exhibition Friday night at Plainsman Park.
Trailing 3-2, Auburn scored six runs in the seventh inning to take the lead for good. Justin Kirby got things going with a solo homer over the bullpen in right field to start the frame before Bobby Peirce gave the Tigers the lead on two-out, two-RBI single through the left side. Two pitches later, Ike Irish hit his second homer in as many exhibitions, this one a three-run shot to extend the lead to 8-3, and Auburn never looked back.
Kason Howell led the way with three hits in the contest, while Irish and Peirce drove in four and three runs, respectively. Twenty Auburn position players and 10 pitchers saw action in the game.
Alabama started the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the third, and Auburn answered with two runs of its own in the home half. Kason Howell started the inning with a double and eventually scored on a bases-loaded walk by Peirce and Irish brought in the tying run on a RBI fielder's choice. However, the Crimson Tide reclaimed the lead with an unearned run in its next at-bat.
Chase Allsup struck out five in the first two innings, and Joseph Gonzalez retired six of the seven batters he faced in the fifth and sixth frames. With Drew Nelson following Gonzalez with a scoreless inning, the pitching on both sides turned in three scoreless frames before Kirby's aforementioned homer started the six-run seventh.
Alabama got three of the six runs back on a bases-clearing double in the top of the eighth, but Auburn plated four on a pair of two-RBI hits from Mike Bello and Chris Stanfield to make it 12-6 in the ninth.
Carson Swilling and Tommy Vail kept Alabama scoreless in the ninth and 10th, and Trevor Horne struck out three batters in the 11th.
Wesley Helms capped off the scoring a with a RBI single in the 12th to score Bryson Ware, who doubled earlier in the frame and finished with a pair of hits.
Auburn wraps up its fall season with the three-game Orange vs. Blue World Series at Plainsman Park next week.