Auburn baseball clinched the series sweep against an SEC team for the first time since 2012 against the Georgia Bulldogs (21-23, 6-14 SEC) with a 4-1 victory Saturday, April 25, at Plainsman Park.
Auburn pitcher Dalton Rentz picked up the win after allowing four hits, no runs, two walks and striking out four batters through 4.2 innings.
“We weren’t sure if we were going to get one inning out of him, two or three or what,” said head coach Sunny Golloway. “It’s kind of hard to get loose and then shut down because of the lightning and then get the start. (Rentz) gave us a lot more than we expected.”
The Tigers (29-16, 10-11 SEC) plated runs in the first and sixth innings to give their bullpen the cushion it needed to pull off the sweep in front of 3,358 fans.
After a 41-minute lightning delay in the first inning, Daniel Robert drove in Kyler Deese to put the Tigers on the board first.
Auburn got its bats working again in the bottom of the sixth to extend its lead by three more runs.
Melvin Gray took advantage of the Bulldogs first in the inning as the junior scored the Tigers’ second run on a wild pitch.
A bunt-single from Robert and a couple singles from Gray and Anfernee Grier loaded the bases for the Tigers before a sac fly from Blake Logan brought Grier across the plate to make it 3-0.
Bo Decker stepped in to pinch-hit for Jordan Ebert in the sixth. The junior hit an RBI-double to plate Robert for the second time and improve Auburns lead to 4-0.
The Bulldogs managed to score their only run in the top of the eighth after Auburn reliever Jacob Milliman walked in a run with the bases loaded.
“It’s the first sweep we’ve had since I’ve been here and hopefully we will have a couple more the next couple weeks,” Robert said. “Honestly, we needed a sweep. We needed to pick a game up and I’m glad we did.”
A couple big plays by the Tigers’ defense played part in the victory.
Damon Haecker picked up his second outfield assist in the first inning as the sophomore gunned down Bulldog left-fielder Keegan McGovern at the plate after a shot to right field from Jared Walsh.
Kyler Deese made a tough play at third base with a diving grab to keep the Bulldogs scoreless through five innings.
“It’s a really good feeling to know your team is there to back you up,” Rentz said.
Auburn will look to add some more wins to its resume in a midweek game against Kennesaw State Wednesday, April 29, at 6 p.m. at Plainsman Park.
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