No. 25 Auburn remained undefeated on the season Saturday afternoon, defeating BYU twice at Plainsman Park to sweep the series. The Tigers crushed BYU 21-4 in the first game of the doubleheader, and completed the sweep with a 9-5 win Saturday night.
Auburn improves to 12-0, the third-best start in school history behind 2001's 13-0 and 1997's 7-0 starts.
The Tigers out-scored BYU 34-12 in the three-game series.
GAME 1
After falling behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning, the Auburn offense exploded for 20 hits, including a season-high eight doubles, to defeat BYU 21-4 and move to 11-0 on the season.
The Tigers scored 16 unanswered runs to pull away from the Cougars. They scored seven runs in the first inning, six in the second, three in the fifth and five in the seventh.
“We’ve just got to keep up the good work, keep a chip on our shoulder and keep playing hard because this is a special time in our program,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said.
“I just see guys playing. Will we get to a point where we start thinking we’re good? Every team usually gets to that. But even through this last out today in the ballgame, I just see our guys wanting to have good at-bats and not getting tired of it.”
Auburn had eight doubles, five of which came in the first inning. Edouard Julien led the offensive onslaught, despite not starting in game one. The freshman came off the bench for a pinch-hit grand slam, his second home run in as many games, and led the team with four RBIs. Freshman Steven Williams was 3-for-5 and drove in two runs, and Jeremy Johnson was 3-for-4, with two RBIs and four runs scored.
Despite giving up a three-run homerun in the first inning, Auburn starter Davis Daniel settled down the stretch to earn his second win of the year. Daniel gave up six hits and struck out five in a season-high six innings pitched.
“I thought Davis (Daniel) went to work and started pitching. We committed all the way to 93 pitches...And we were like, ‘He needs the full start.’ He’s got to continues to figure this thing out, return to form, and get better. I thought those middle innings were better for him,” Thompson said. “He started pitching, got his changeup going and got us to where we could get Jack (Owen) in that ballgame.”
GAME 2
No comeback was needed in game two. Auburn jumped on BYU early in the second game of the day and held on to that lead for the remainder of the game.
After three scoreless innings of baseball, the Tigers brought home three runs in the third inning and five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, extending the lead to 8-1, to break the game open.
Luke Jarvis and Steven Williams led the way for the Tigers. Jarvis went 3-for-5 and tallied two RBIs, both of which came on an RBI triple to deep left center in the bottom of the fourth inning. Williams went 3-for-4 and added two RBIs as well. Conor Davis also added produced two RBIs, while Brendan Venter and Will Holland tallied one RBI apiece.
“We’re in a great spot,” Venter said. “We’re seeing a lot of pitches. I don’t think we struck out very much today. Competing with two strikes, making the pitcher throw more pitches, getting on base anyway we can — I think we’re rolling offensively right now so it’s exciting to see.”
After BYU scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to trim the lead to 8-4, Auburn’s Cody Greenhill got a bases-loaded strikeout to end the inning and stop the bleeding. Greenhill ended up finishing the game for the Tigers. The Russellville native earned his second save of the season, gave up one earned run on five hits, and struck out four in 3.1 innings pitched.
Auburn starting pitcher Tanner Burns gets the win to improve to 2-0 on the season. The freshman gave up one run on four hits, and struck out four in five innings pitched.
Brock Hale led the way for the Cougars with a solo homerun in the top of the fourth inning, his second of the day, and an RBI double to left center field in the top of the sixth.
With their performance Saturday, Auburn is the only remaining unbeaten team in the SEC and will likely jump in the polls come next week.
The Tigers return to action Tuesday when they travel to Birmingham to face UAB at Regions Park. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.
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