HOOVER, Ala. – In front of the largest Wednesday crowd in SEC Tournament history, No. 6 Auburn used elite pitching and a pair of home runs to defeat LSU 3-1 at the Hoover Met.
With 14,461 packing the park – the fourth highest attendance in tournament history – Jake Marciano and Jackson Sanders held the Bengal Tigers to one run on four hits.
“Another great test for us,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “That’s as big of a crowd as I’ve been a part of over three schools over these 25 years. I think the SEC and Hoover should be excited about a Wednesday night crowd like that.”
After LSU (30-28) scored first on a leadoff double, sacrifice bunt and sac fly in the top of the fourth, Chase Fralick evened the score in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run to left field, his 14th of the season.
The Tigers took the lead in the friendly fifth inning when Brandon McCraine led off with a single and Mason McCraine followed with a walk. With two outs, Chris Rembert chopped a single over the pitcher’s mound and the older McCraine scored on a throwing error when LSU’s second baseman tried to catch him rounding third.
Eric Guevera blasted a towering home run to left with one out in the sixth inning off LSU reliever Zac Cowan to extend Auburn’s lead to 3-1. The long ball left Guevara’s bat at 105 miles per hour and was his 12th of the season.
Marciano (5-5) scattered four hits over 6.0 innings, allowing one run while striking out four.
“It was exciting to get the ball for the first game of the SEC tourney,” Marciano said. “I trusted my team behind me and trusted Chase. I’m happy we were able to get it done tonight.”
Sanders relieved Marciano to start the seventh and retiring the Bengal Tigers in order in the seventh and eighth innings. He set down the first seven batters he faced before a review overturned a called third strike to Derek Curiel with one out in the ninth.
With two outs in the ninth Auburn appeared to have won the game when Brayden Simpson was called out on strikes on a full count, but for the second time in the inning, LSU successfully challenged the call, awarding Simpson first base after the review.
“Composure,” Sanders said of his mindset when the reviews went LSU’s way. “In the ninth inning crazy stuff always happens. You’ve got to be prepared for everything. I think we did a good job tonight, me and Chase staying on the same page locking in there. It was an ultimate fight to the end.”
Sanders induced a grounder to McCraine at shortstop for the final out to earn his team-best fourth save, throwing three hitless frames.
“We did enough,” Thompson said. “We were buttoned up defensively. The defense played great. We want to keep growing offensively this week, as long as we get to stick around.”
Cade Belyeu extended his program hit-by-pitch record to 42, reaching first in the seventh inning with his eighth HBP of the season.
Needing three wins to claim its first SEC Tournament title since 1998, Auburn (37-18, 17-13 SEC) will meet three seed Texas A&M (39-13, 18-11 SEC) in Friday’s quarterfinals at 7 p.m. CT.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer