After failing to plate a single run in the final 16 innings of this past weekend’s series with Missouri, No. 15 Auburn was desperate for an offensive spark against Alabama A&M on Tuesday night.
The Tigers’ lineup delivered, totaling 14 hits in a 19-5 win over the Bulldogs.
In all, 12 Tigers reached base in the game and nine drove in at least one run.
“The thing that we were really looking for with our guys is how hard we worked yesterday of getting back in the cage, Gabe (Gross) and the players,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “I thought we did not swing at balls tonight. That looks like us a little bit.”
Designated hitter Brett Wright got Auburn out of its funk early by blasting a three-run home run to the deepest part of Plainsman Park in left-center during the first inning. The homer was the junior college transfer’s team-leading seventh of the season.
While becoming Auburn’s first player to score five runs in a game since 2009, freshman Edouard Julien attempted to keep pace with Wright in the home run category, as he hit a two-run shot for his sixth of the season in the sixth inning.
First baseman Brendan Venter also homered on a solo shot in the bottom of the second, his fifth of the season.
Auburn pitchers Andrew Mitchell and Cody Greenhill made a return to the mound on Tuesday after each missing multiple weeks with separate ailments.
Mitchell got the start for the Tigers after not making an appearance since Feb. 27 due to arm soreness. He only went one inning and allowed his first earned run of the season, but Thompson was encouraged with the way the senior looked throwing the ball.
After six different Auburn pitchers followed Mitchell, Greenhill came in to pitch the ninth inning in his first appearance since March 10. The true freshman had to work around an error and a single, but he was able to finish off the game without allowing a run and brought his ERA down to 0.47 for the season.
“I’m just glad to see them in uniform and on the field,” Thompson said. “In respect to Andrew, velocity is not everything but I saw 91 (mph) and I thought the ball came out of his hand really good,” Thompson said.
“Cody Greenhill, he impresses me with his ability to shove the ball in the strike zone and get mishits on fastballs.”
The Tigers hope Tuesday’s win will serve as a tune-up game before they get right back into the grind of SEC play.
Auburn will play its third series in four weeks against a top 10 team when it travels to face No. 9 Arkansas in a three-game stint over the weekend.
Casey Mize (6-0) is set to start game-one Friday night in Fayetteville with first pitch at 6:30 p.m. CT.
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