AUBURN, Ala. – No. 25 Auburn turned in its first shutout since 2023 and collected 14 hits in seven innings en route to run ruling Wright State 11-0 Friday afternoon at Plainsman Park.
The offense jumped out to an 8-0 lead through three innings, highlighted by a five-run first inning before adding one in the second and two more in the third.
“I just thought our at-bats were better,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “I think we got on time a little bit more. When you don’t let a pitcher out of the first inning, it winds up being a big deal. We struck in the second and in the third. That’s just us having better at-bats up and down the lineup.”
Samuel Dutton (1-1) picked up his first win in an Auburn uniform with 5.2 scoreless innings and matched a career high with seven strikeouts for the second straight week. He got out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and faced one over the minimum with six of his seven strikeouts in his next four frames.
“It was a lot of fun,” Dutton said of his outing. “I have guys behind me who can make plays, and that’s the most important thing. Getting a zero on the board in the first, I can’t ask for much more than that. That was huge.”
Cooper McMurray and Bub Terrell combined to go 6-for-8 from the plate with four runs and seven RBI, and all nine players in the lineup collected a hit.
“It’s definitely good to see a lot of runs on the board today and get back to the things we know how to do,” McMurray said. “The things we did all fall and all spring. It was definitely a good game for sure.”
Dutton ran into a bases loaded jam with one out in the first but was able to get out of it with a double play ball to Deric Fabian at shortstop.
After escaping the jam, Auburn (5-1) wasted no time getting on the board as five of the first six batters collected a hit and all five came in to score. McMurray got things started with a two-RBI single to center, and Terrell followed two batters later with a three-run homer to right center. The ball jumped off Terrell’s bat at 109 miles per hour and marked his first career homer.
“The first couple of games I was pressing, I was nervous, but after that I just toned it down and trusted myself,” Terrell added. “The coaches trust in me and have confidence in me. I just have to play with that confidence on the field.”
Dutton worked a clean second inning with a pair of strikeouts, and the offensive production continued with a two-out run thanks to a single from Cade Belyeu, walk from Ike Irish and another RBI knock from McMurray.
The early onslaught continued in the bottom of the third. The first four batters reached on three singles and a hit-by-pitch before Chase Fralick drove in Terrell on a single to left and Eric Snow scored Chris Rembert on a sacrifice fly to right field to extend the lead to 8-0.
Dutton retired 10 straight batters from the third inning until the top of the sixth, but Wright State (2-1) used back-to-back singles to run him from the game. The senior gave way to John Armstrong, who needed just one pitch to strand the two runners and keep the shutout intact.
Irish collected a RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to score Belyeu, and McMurray drove in his fourth run of the game with a RBI double down the right field line. Rembert then capped off the scoring in the contest with a RBI single through the right side.
Ryan Hetzler made his Auburn debut in the seventh and turned in a clean inning, needing just 10 pitches to retire the Raiders.
The series continues with game two Saturday at 12 p.m. CT at Plainsman Park.