The Auburn Tigers defeated the Charleston Southern Buccaneers on the diamond Saturday night with a 13-1 victory. The win came after the Tigers' ninth-inning rally fell short Friday night against Purdue University. Auburn stands at 7-5 on the season with the win.
"You got to be ready to come back after some tough losses or when things don't go well for you," said Auburn coach John Pawlowski. "I thought our club responded today, and it all started with the guy on the mound."
Sophomore pitcher Will Kendall got the start against the Buccaneers (7-4).
"The first inning he got two guys on and nobody out, but he battled back and got through that," Powlowski said. "I thought he did an outstanding job for his first collegiate start."
Kendall said his nerves were affecting him "a little bit" at game time.
"I just tried to say relaxed," Kendall said. "It was my first time starting, so it was kinda different. But once I got on the game mound, (I just) got back to what I had always been doing."
Auburn's Patrick Savage, sophomore first baseman, started the second inning rotation with a solo home run to left field, putting the Tigers up 1-0.
Next at bat was junior left fielder Cullen Wacker, who hit a line drive that struck pitcher Charlie McCready in the head. McCready left the game with a concussion and was replaced by Brennan Dorsett.
The Tigers racked up four runs against Dorsett to close out the second inning with a 5-0 lead.
In the top of the fifth, Kendall struck out the first three Bucs who stepped up to the plate. In the same inning, Auburn added two more runs to its total after a single from Creede Simpson, senior outfielder, that brought in sophomore right fielder Jay Gonzalez and sophomore shortstop Dan Glevenyak.
"We had a lot of quality at bats today," Pawlowski said. "And when you put a lot of quality at bats together, sooner or later guys are going to come through with some big hits. Jay Gonzalez and Cullen Wacker were on base four or five times today. Patrick Savage had a big home run for us early in the game to get some momentum in our corner. So, a lot of positive things today."
Gonzalez went 3-4 and crossed the plate three times.
"(I'm) just trying to go out there, do my job to get everything started for my team, find a way to get on base, and I was fortunate enough to see some good fastballs," he said.
Gonzalez said he felt better about his performance Saturday compared to against Purdue the day before.
"I was very mad yesterday," Gonzalez said. "Nothing went my way yesterday. I felt like I was trying to do too much yesterday, so I just wanted to go out there and keep it simple and just do what I do best and find ways to get on base."
In Kendall's six innings no the mound, five batters got on base, but none scored.
The Buccaneers' only run came in the top of the ninth from a single to center field by Chase Shelton, allowing Cody Austin to score from second base.
Auburn's next opponent is the University of Southern Mississippi at Plainsman Park at 3 p.m. Sunday.
"Southern Miss is an outstanding team and will present a great challenge for us," Pawlowski said, "and our guys have to be ready to play."
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