AUBURN, Ala. – No. 20 Auburn dropped the middle game against Old Dominion 11-9 Saturday evening at Plainsman Park.
With Auburn leading by seven through six innings, Old Dominion scored nine unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth innings to secure the win and even the series.
“We threw guys that we count on to win a series tonight, and it felt like nobody got comfortable on the mound the longer it went,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “It’s really strange, too, because you strike out 15 batters. You have 15 strikeouts, but they definitely put the bat on the ball, hit some balls hard. I don’t know what to call this but past us. That was disappointing on the mound tonight for sure.”
Similar to Friday, Old Dominion (4-8) jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a run in the top of the second. The Monarchs put runners on the corners with nobody out, but Cade Fisher did a nice job to minimize the damage with a double play that scored the run.
Auburn (12-3) answered in the bottom of the frame as Chris Rembert and Ike Irish traded two-out doubles to even the score, 1-1.
The Tigers took a 4-1 lead with three runs in the third. Deric Fabian drove in his team-best 19th run of the season with a bases-loaded ground ball to second, and Cade Belyeu brought in a pair of runners in scoring position with a single to center.
Old Dominion scratched a run in the fourth as a potential inning-ending double play ball resulted in RBI fielder’s choice, but Auburn’s offense stayed steady with five runs in the bottom of the inning. Eric Snow split the gap in left center to score a pair and Cooper McMurray hit the next pitch over the student deck in right center, marking his team-best fifth homer of the season. The inning was extended with back-to-back singles from Fabian and Belyeu, and Irish drew a two-out walk with the bases loaded to make it a 9-2 game.
Cam Tilly turned in 3.0 innings and allowed one run on one hit before giving way to Dylan Watts to start the sixth. The junior allowed a leadoff double but got out of the inning unscathed thanks to a pair of strikeouts and smooth play by Fabian at shortstop.
With Auburn leading by seven through six innings, Old Dominion scored five runs in the top of the seventh to make things interesting. The big blow for the Monarchs came on a two-out, bases-clearing double.
The visitors continued to chip away with a two-out run in the eighth to cut the deficit to one before taking the lead on a three-run home run over the War Eagle Wall in left field.
Auburn threatened to battle back by loading the bases in the bottom of the eighth, but a groundout to short ended the inning. The Tigers then went down in order in the ninth.
“Definitely a tough one to lose,” Snow said. “Series are three games, though, and that’s really what we have to think about. We have to come back out tomorrow with a different mindset and kind of forget about this one.”
The series finale between the Tigers and Monarchs is scheduled for Sunday at 3:30 p.m. CT.