Auburn baseball notebook – Apr. 20

Auburn baseball notebook – Apr. 20Auburn baseball notebook – Apr. 20
Zach Bland

Week at a Glance

Overall: 27-12
Last Week: 3-1
SEC: 10-8
Non-Conference: 17-4
Streak: W2

Last Week's Results:
Tuesday vs. Alabama State: W, 13-0 (7)
Thursday at No. 7 Florida: L, 3-6
Friday at No. 7 Florida: W, 5-3
Saturday at No. 7 Florida: W, 8-5

This Week’s Schedule:
Tuesday at Samford: 6 p.m.
Friday vs. No. 9 Oklahoma: 6 p.m.
Saturday vs. No. 9 Oklahoma: 6 p.m.
Sunday vs. No. 9 Oklahoma: 2 p.m.

Players of the Week                                                 

Mason McCraine – FR – OF – Salem, Ala.

Week 10/ at Florida: 3 GP/GS, .385/.429/1.077, 5-for-13, 4 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 BB

  • Making his first SEC starts since Apr. 3, he homered three times and drove in seven runs in Auburn’s first series win in Gainesville since 2013.
  • Hitting out of the leadoff spot for the first time this season, he homered twice, including the go-ahead home run in the fourth inning and solo home run in the sixth inning.
  • He became the first Auburn player to homer in consecutive at-bats this season.
  • Homered and drove in three runs for the second straight day in the series-clinching finale at Florida.
  • Hit a two-out RBI single to cut Auburn’s deficit to one in the fifth inning and capped off Auburn’s five-run ninth inning with his second two-run homer of the series.
  • Has a hit in six straight games and has driven in a run in four straight.

Chris Rembert – SO – IF – Pensacola, Fla.  

Week 10: 4 GP/GS, .421/.450/.579, 8-for-19, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 BB
at Florida: 3 GP/GS, .333/.333/.333, 5-for15

  • Led the team with a .421 average and eight hits in four games last week.
  • Went 3-for-4 with two RBI and finished a homer shy of the cycle in the run-rule victory against Alabama State.
  • Collected multiple hits in each of the two wins at Florida.
  • Has multiple hits in five of the last six games, hitting .481 during the span, and is riding a seven-game hitting streak.

Pitchers of the Week

Alex Petrovic – R-So. – RHP – Cypress, Texas

Week 10/at Florida: 1 GS, 0-0, 3.86 ERA, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K, .130 B/AVG

  • The reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week turned in his second straight start of 7.0 innings and third start this season of 7.0 or more innings, tied for the most on the team.
  • Allowed a three-run home run in the first inning but responded by allowing just two baserunners the rest of his outing – a leadoff single erased by a caught stealing in the third and one-out walk in the fifth.
  • Turned in 1-2-3 innings in the second, fourth, sixth and seventh and retired the last eight batters he faced in his outing.

Jackson Sanders – So. – LHP – Opelika, Ala.

Week 10/at Florida: 1 APP, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 6 K, .071 B/AVG

  • Making his second relief appearance of the season, Sanders earned the win in 4.1 scoreless innings to even the series at No. 7 Florida.
  • In a 4-3 game, he took over to start the fifth inning and led the way to hold the Gators scoreless in the last five frames.
  • Struck out five of the first eight batters he faced and finished with six.
  • Has turned in 8.1 scoreless innings with 14 strikeouts in two relief appearances.

Team Notes

Auburn’s series win at Florida was the program’s first in Gainesville since 2013 … it marked the first series win at Florida when dropping the first game since 1997 … the Tigers are one of only three SEC teams that have won their last three series, joining Texas A&M (4) and Ole Miss (3) … Auburn has won two of its first three SEC road series for the third time under head coach Butch Thompson (2017, 2022) … Friday’s win at Florida marked Thompson’s 350th at Auburn … the win in the series finale marked Auburn’s fifth this season when trailing or tied after the eighth inning … the Tigers improved to 9-5 in road/neutral games this season and 8-9 against ranked opponents … beginning with the series vs. Arkansas, Auburn’s offense is hitting .301 and has scored 63 runs (7.0 runs per game) on 94 hits (10.4 hits per game) in the last nine SEC games … the Florida series represented Auburn’s first of five straight series against top-15 opponents to finish SEC play, including four in the top 10 … the Tigers last five league opponents are all 10-8 or better in SEC play, going a combined 55-34 (.618) in league games thus far … after going from Mar.18-Apr. 11 without a home run with a runner on base, eight of Auburn’s 11 home runs in the last five game have been with a runner on … the pitching staff held a perfect game with one out in the seventh inning of the run-rule victory against Alabama State and ultimately turned in the sixth shutout of the season … the six shutouts this season are already the most since turning in seven in 2019 … the pitching staff enters the week as the national leader in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.21), WHIP (1.13) and walks allowed per 9.0 innings (2.61) while ranking second in the in the country in shutouts (two) and third in ERA (3.29) … the Tigers enter the week with the No. 1 SOS and No. 5 RPI.