AUBURN, Ala. – No. 11 Auburn's bullpen turned in 5.0 hitless innings and the offense registered double digit hits for the eighth time in the last 11 games as the Tigers defeated Southeastern 7-1 in the series opener Friday night at Plainsman Park.
The win marked Auburn's seventh straight and extended its unbeaten streak to 11 games. It also marked the team's fourth straight Friday night win to start the season.
"I just have so much respect for Southeastern Louisiana and how scrappy they are," head coach Butch Thompson said. "They absolutely scrap and fight for every pitch.
"It really doesn't matter how you play, it's how you're handling home plate," Thompson added. "Can you protect the plate and can you win more pitches than the other team? At least we did for game one tonight."
Cole Foster led the way from the plate, turning in his second straight four-hit game while driving in a season-high four runs and homering for the second time this season. In two games against Southeastern in his career, Foster is now 8-for-11 with four homers and 13 RBI.
"They're a great ballclub, and I just think it's a crazy turn of events the way the last two times we've played them have turned out," Foster said. "I think (the success) goes back to the approach we've been working on the last four weeks. It's just finally clicking and show up."
Tanner Bauman made his third straight Friday night start and scattered seven hits in 4.0 innings. The junior lefty allowed one run with one walk and three strikeouts before giving way to the bullpen. The relief trio of Parker Carlson, Trevor Horne and John Armstrong held Southeastern without a hit and allowed just five baserunners in the last five frames.
"Pitching wise it was a lot different because they're up on the plate and middle is more in," Armstrong said of the staff's approach. "That's what we were working on. I was just trying to throw the ball down the middle, and to them it was in. I was getting a lot of rollovers and it was working in my favor."
Southeastern (9-5) threatened to start the scoring in the first and second innings, but Bauman was able to get out of both frames unscathed by stranding five runners.
The Tigers (12-1-1) then put two runners in scoring position with nobody out in the second after a leadoff single from Ike Irish and double from Bryson Ware, but this time the Lions escaped the inning with a groundout, strikeout and running catch on a flyout to right.
Auburn stuck with its approach and started the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the third. Kason Howell and Justin Kirby drew one-out walks and Foster singled through the right side in between the two to load the bases. Irish then ripped a two-RBI double to left center, and Ware lifted a sacrifice fly to center to account for the three runs.
Southeastern got on the scoreboard with a leadoff single followed by a RBI double in the top of the fifth, but Carlson (1-0, 5.40) entered in relief of Bauman and kept the damage to a minimum by retiring the next three batters, including two on strikeouts.
Leading 3-1, Auburn tacked on three more in the sixth on Foster's second homer of the season. Nate LaRue and Howell drew walks to put a pair of runners aboard, and the junior shortstop brought them both in with a 412-foot homer over the visitor's bullpen to extend the lead to five.
Howell started the eighth inning with a double to left, and Foster drove him in with a single up the middle to cap off the scoring in the contest.
Irish registered double digit hits for the 10th time in the first 14 games of the season, and Chris Stanfield collected a pair of hits, including his second triple, for the fourth time in the last six games.
Auburn's pitching staff has held the opponent to three or fewer runs in four straight games.
The two teams will finish the series with a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. CT. Game two will begin approximately 40 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
