AUBURN, Ala. – An 11-run first inning set the tone as No. 13 Auburn defeated Florida A&M 18-8 in seven innings Wednesday night at Plainsman Park.
The Tigers (6-1-1) first 12 batters reached base and the first 11 came in to score, highlighted by a trio of three-run homers from Justin Kirby, Cooper McMurray and Cole Foster. Auburn's 18 runs were a season high and marked the fourth time in the last five games the team has scored double digit runs.
"Yeah, just up and down the lineup everyone was hitting. Eleven runs in the first inning was tremendous," head coach Butch Thompson said. "I really think it started in the top half with Tommy Vail. Less than ten pitches, just shoving in the strike zone was huge for us. I felt that he got us off to a great start."
Making the fourth start of his career and his first since 2019 at Notre Dame, Vail (1-0, 0.00) needed just five pitches to get through the first inning and ultimately didn't allow a hit with six strikeouts and two walks in 4.0 innings.
"It's the same game, every batter, every pitch," Vail said. "I'm just trying to go out there and win the most pitches I can. Coach (Schoenrock) came up to me in the first inning and said, 'When you get back out there it's zero to zero.' You just have to keep that mentality and take every pitch as it comes and not let the moment get too big."
Kirby's three-run homer got the scoring started and was his team-best sixth of the season. All six of Kirby's hits so far this year have been home runs, four of which have come in the last four games.
"Obviously it's a great way to start a baseball game," Kirby said of the 11-run first inning. "That was probably the first game I've ever been a part of where we batted around without even recording an out. Can't really complain about that. We got some big swings with runners on. "
Following Kirby's home run, Ike Irish singled and Bryson Ware walked before Ryan Dyal and Kason Howell turned in back-to-back RBI singles. McMurray then drove both in with a no-doubter over the visitor's bullpen in right field, his second homer of the season. The rally continued with walks from Brody Moss and Josh Hall, and Foster followed with a three-run homer that nearly cleared the hitting facility in right field. The long ball was Foster's first of the season and 10th of his career.
After the long inning, Vail went back out to the mound and retired the Rattlers in order with a pair of strikeouts. The graduate lefty ultimately faced just two batters over the minimum in his 4.0 innings of work.
An RBI single from Bryson Ware and sacrifice fly from Howell extended the lead to 13-0 after three.
Florida A&M (3-7) got on the scoreboard with a solo homer in the fifth, but Auburn reliever Trevor Horne bounced back nicely, ending the frame with back-to-back strikeouts and punching out three in the second appearance of his career.
Auburn responded by scoring three runs on two bases-loaded walks and a hit-by-pitch to make it 16-1, but the Rattlers climbed back into the game with seven runs in the top of the sixth.
With the 10-run rule in effect, Ryan Olson pitched a scoreless top of the seventh and Chris Stanfield started the bottom of the frame with a triple to center. Stanfield came in to score on a RBI single from Brody Wortham, marking his first hit in an Auburn uniform, and Josh Hall ultimately ended the game on a RBI groundout to second.
Sixteen position players saw action in the game, and 10 different players recorded a hit while nine drove in a run.
Auburn continues non-conference play with a three-game series against Lipscomb (5-3) this weekend. The series opener is set for Friday at 6 p.m. CT.
First-inning onslaught leads No. 13 Auburn to run-rule win against Florida A&M
