Eight strikeouts by Auburn's Conner Kendrick led the Tigers to their fifth straight Capital City Classic, beating Alabama 6-3 in Montgomery Tuesday, March 5.
A big fifth inning for Auburn put the team ahead 4-3 after scoring three runs and the Tigers never looked back, riding on Kendrick's pitching to their ninth win of the season.
Kendrick had eight strikeouts and allowed no runs or hits in his six innings on the mound.
"I felt like I had command of more than one pitch tonight," Kendrick said. "I could go fastball, change-up, and I had a pretty good curveball tonight. The mix of those pitches helped out tonight for me."
The game remained scoreless until the top of the fourth, when Auburn first baseman Garrett Cooper scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Jordan Ebert.
Alabama then capitalized off of two Auburn errors to score three in the bottom of the fourth, giving them the early lead.
"I thought our team responded. I thought that was one of the biggest things we did today," said Head Coach John Pawlowski. "We made some mistakes, but when (Alabama) got down 3-1 they were resilient. (Alabama) responded, they came back, and we found a way to win today."
Pitching for the Tigers, Dillon Ortman walked Alabama's first two batters before Austen Smith hit a double to bring Brett Booth home, tying the game 1-1. Two errors by Auburn resulted in another two scores for the Tide, the first by Auburn shortstop Dan Glevenyak, and another immediately after by third baseman Damek Tomscha to give Alabama a 3-1 lead.
Auburn retaliated quickly, scoring three in the fifth to take back the lead 4-3. After a RBI groundout by Cullen Wacker and an error by Alabama's shortstop on a grounder by Garrett Cooper, the Tigers tied the game 3-3. Then Alabama third baseman Kenny Roberts threw it over the head of Smith at first base, allowing Cooper to score and securing the lead for Auburn 4-3.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the ninth, Auburn's Cooper had a single to left field, bringing in Tomscha and Glevenyak to build the Tiger's lead 6-3.
Kendrick stopped a Tide comeback in the bottom of the ninth with two strikeouts and a groundout.
The Tigers look to continue their three-game winning streak Friday, March 8 at 6 p.m. when they take on Brown in the first of a three-game series.
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