AUBURN, Ala. – No. 25 Auburn steadied a back-and-forth game in the early going to defeat Samford 15-8 in front of a record midweek and student crowd Tuesday night at Plainsman Park.
The offense collected 13 or more hits for the fourth straight game and hit four home runs for the second straight contest. Eight players recorded a hit and scored a run, including four with multiple hits and seven with multiple runs.
“We know what we are capable of because we see it each and every day,” head coach Butch Thompson said of the offensive production. “It felt like once we walked out of the midweek and got to last weekend, we really started playing some offense. Now you want to see if it can travel because we get an opportunity to do that the next four games. We hit four home runs, but I’m more pleased about the two-strike hitting. That’s what can travel. That’s what can show up consistently, and that’ll be the message.”
Samford (3-5) started the scoring with a two-run single in the first, but Auburn (8-1) answered with five runs in the second and two more in the third to take a 7-2 lead. Six of Auburn’s seven runs in the two innings came on home runs from Cooper McMurray (solo), Chris Rembert (three-run) and Bub Terrell (two-run).
Samford came out in the top of the fourth and tied the game 7-7 with five runs on six hits, but the back-and-forth continued as Eric Snow started the bottom of the fourth with a solo homer into the visitor’s bullpen. The home run marked the first home run of his Auburn career.
“It was a really good ballgame,” Snow said. “It was obviously a roller coaster. There were plenty of ups and downs, but we kept our head down and kept fighting each and every inning.”
Parker Carlson (1-0) entered in relief at the end of the fourth inning and settled the game by retiring eight of the first nine batters he faced, including seven straight in the fifth and sixth innings. Carlson struck out three with 25 of the 32 pitches he threw going for strikes.
“Just confidence and filling up the zone,” Carlson said of the biggest difference between this year and last. “Even when things don’t quite go our way at the beginning of the game, we have guys come in and fill up the zone. We trust every guy who takes the bump.”
Auburn’s offense continued to produce as the Tigers extended their lead with four runs in the fifth. Rembert drove in his fourth run of the game with a double to left and Snow followed with a two-run double off the top of the wall in left center. Ike Irish then capped off the scoring with a RBI groundout to first.
“I told them I liked the maturity of our team to weather the scoring,” Thompson added. ‘We punched and we bit to get that 7-2 lead, but they absolutely reeled us back in. I thought we kept playing offense. The team stayed consistent, and we just kept having great two-strike at-bats."
The two teams traded runs in the bottom of the sixth and top of the seventh, and Auburn scored for the sixth straight inning with two more in the bottom of the seventh. Lucas Steele drove in Deric Fabian on a RBI fielder’s choice in the sixth, and the finale two runs came on a wild pitch and sacrifice fly from Fabian in the seventh.
Following Carlson on the mound, Jackson Sanders made his team-high fourth appearance of the season and recorded the final two outs of the seventh inning. Dylan Watts turned in a scoreless eighth and ninth inning with five strikeouts.
After walking the leadoff batter of the game, Auburn pitchers didn’t issue a walk and struck out 11 the rest of the way.
Auburn hits the road for the first time this season to take on Ohio State (1-5), No. 8 Oregon State (5-2) and Baylor (6-1) in Arlington, Texas.