Despite dropping the home opener, the Auburn Baseball team came out on top in its three-game series against Southeast Missouri State last weekend.
Game one began at 3 p.m. Friday as junior outfielder Brian Fletcher gave Auburn its first run of the season in the bottom of the first.
Junior infielder Hunter Morris took advantage of a SEMO groundout to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead going into the second inning.
However, a home run by SEMO's Louie Haseltine kicked off a Redhawk offensive that would culminate in the team's 13-8 victory.
"These guys work so hard in the preseason and put so much effort into it," said Auburn head coach John Palowski. "Unfortunately today we weren't very good. We didn't pitch very well; we didn't execute pitches. You put five errors on the board and you don't hit in the clutch and you get beat."
Auburn returned to the field Saturday as the Tigers pulled themselves up to a 6-2 lead at the end of the seventh inning.
However, SEMO scored four runs in the next two innings, tying the game.
"It was tough early in the game," Palowski said. "We had so many guys that we left on base and we just couldn't come up with a big hit. I guess we saved the last few biggest hits for extra innings." A pair of errors by Morris and junior infielder Justin Hargett helped give the Redhawks a two run lead.
As Auburn took to the offensive, junior infielder Wes Gilmer singled to left field, bringing in two runs.
Sophomore outfielder Creede Simpson singled to center soon after, scoring another runner and winning the game for the Tigers.
"I was struggling all day at the plate and I wanted to get a pitch that I could drive early in the count," Simpson said. "Luckily he threw me one up there and I hit it. There we so many ups and downs in today's game, but we found a way to pull out the win. It's always good to get the first one off your back and hopefully we can take some momentum from that and keep it going."
Sunday's game belonged to junior pitcher Cole Nelson, a JUCO transfer making his Auburn debut.
Nelson gave up three hits and four walks in the entire game, allowing only one SEMO run.
The Redhawks remained scoreless for six innings as Auburn worked its way to a 6-1 victory.
"The leadoff hitter got that hit off me right away and that made me settle in a little quicker than I wanted to," Nelson said. "My fastball felt really good and I established the slider in the second and third inning. From then on I felt I could keep people off balance."
Auburn will face Boston College at home tomorrow at 6 p.m., followed by Missouri Saturday and Florida Atlantic Sunday, both at 3 p.m. at Plainsman Park.
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