This weekend's baseball tournament ended on a warm Sunday afternoon with the Tigers uprooting the Indiana State University Sycamores 6-5 at Plainsman Park and Hitchcock Field.
Auburn pitchers Conner Kendrick and Justin Camp together held Indiana State to only one hit over the last seven innings as the Tigers rallied to win, and Ryan Tella had two hits and drove home three runs.
"We feel like that's one of our strengths," Auburn coach John Pawlowski said. "Justin Camp, you can't say enough, and Conner Kendrick did a great job against those lefties."
Pawlowski now holds a 1.28 ERA in the bullpen through seven games.
Auburn put up three unearned runs in the bottom of the first. However, starter Rocky McCord fell victim to his yielding of five runs on four hits and two walks in the second inning, requiring Camp to fill his shoes.
"We put three on the board real quick, and I was thinking we have a lot of momentum," Pawlowski said. "Next thing I know we are down two. The difference was Justin Camp's ability to get the momentum swung back into our dugout. Justin and Connor Kendrick gave our offense a chance, and our defense did a great job."
Camp allowed a double, after which he retired 12 straight, and Kendrick retired the remaining six in order as Auburn improved 6-1 for the first time since its 2007 season. Indiana State fell 3-4.
All nine of Auburn's starting lineup had a hit.
"That's solid," Tella said. "That's what we want to do, up and down the lineup. You can't just put it all on one person's shoulders all the time."
Junior Ryan Tella finished the day 2-for-4 joining Blake Austin and Jackson Burgreen with two hits apiece, and then he drove in three runs in while he was at bat.
"We stuck with our approach and kept at it," Tella said. "I was just trying to put the ball in play and drive it deep, especially with the bases loaded and one out just tring to get a run across."
Tella's one-out double in the second tied the game at 5-5, and his fourth-inning single drove in the deciding run for Auburn.
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