STARKVILLE, Miss. – After winning Friday’s game in dramatic fashion, No. 5 Auburn left no doubt as the Tigers took down No. 10 Mississippi State, 13-2, in seven innings to win the series at Dudy Noble Field Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Tigers (35-15, 16-11 SEC) improved to 6-1 in rubber games this season, including five straight rubber game wins behind starting pitcher Alex Petrovic (8-2).
“We’ve been pretty good on this run with Petro,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “Offense, defense, pitching, baserunning, it was a good day. The two boys yesterday - Dre and Sanders - made this possible. To find a way to win the series, I’m impressed with the guys, but we’ve got to keep our head down.”
The win secured Auburn’s sixth straight Southeastern Conference series, marking the longest conference series win streak in a single season since 1995. Three of the last four series wins have come against top-10 teams on the road.
“When you do anything that hasn’t been done since one of those teams did it, that’s a pretty good mark,” Thompson added.
While the offense totaled 13 runs on 14 hits, led by multiple hits from five players and multiple RBI by four, Petrovic earned his team-high-tying eighth win of the season as he held the Bulldogs (38-14, 15-12 SEC) to two runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched.
“It’s the don’t-blink mentality. We’ve been in this situation before,” Petrovic said. “You’ve got to make big pitches in big situations, and I did it.”
Eric Guevara led the way with three hits, including a pair of doubles, and drove in three runs in the contest.
“Alex battled the whole way today,” Guevara added. “I’m super proud of him. He keeps battling his guts out. Getting runs for him was huge.”
Chris Rembert got the scoring started with a solo home run to left field to start the second inning. The homer was Rembert’s fourth of the season, including his first since Mar. 24. It left the bat at 110 miles per hour and traveled 421 feet.
After an error prolonged the second inning, the Tigers added a run when Brandon McCraine broke from first with a runner on third, and the throw from first base to second sailed into left field, allowing Ethin Bingaman to score.
Guevara hit a one-out double and stole third in the fourth, and Auburn extended its advantage as Chase Fralick did his job of hitting a ground ball to second to score Guevara.
After stranding five runners in the first two innings, Petrovic worked a clean third inning and erased a leadoff single in the fourth with an inning-ending double play. The right hander threw 54 pitches in the first two innings but needed just 22 as he faced the minimum in the third and fourth.
Leading 3-0, Auburn’s offense added five runs on five hits to take a commanding lead in the fifth. Guevara and Rembert collected back-to-back RBI singles to drive in a combined three runs and make it a six-run game. Bingaman then sent the next pitch delivered by Mississippi State reliever Parker Rhodes over the wall in left field for his 10th home run of the season to make it 8-0.
The Bulldogs answered with a one-out single and two-run homer in the home half of the inning to get on the scoreboard, but Auburn answered immediately with four more runs in the sixth. Guevara drove in his second and third runs of the game with his second double. Fralick singled back up the middle to score another, and a balk with runners on the corners made it a 10-run game.
Bristol Carter’s second hit of the game was a one-out single in the seventh, and the junior outfielder later scored on a RBI single from Mason McCraine, also marking his second hit of the contest, to cap off the scoring at 13-2.
Taking the mound for his second inning of work in the seventh, Ryan Hetzler allowed Mississippi State to load the bases on a pair of singles and hit batter. However, the junior right hander induced a ground ball to second that resulted in a game-ending double play.
The run-rule win was Auburn’s 11th of the season, including its third in the last seven SEC games. The 11-run margin of victory was more than twice as large as any prior loss for Mississippi State this season.
Wrapping up an eight-game road trip, Auburn takes on No. 24 Jacksonville State (38-11, 20-5 C-USA) Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT at Jim Case Stadium.