The Auburn baseball team tied a season high with 14 hits and used a three-run sixth inning to come away with a 7-4 midweek win over Wofford Wednesday, April 3 at Plainsman Park.
"I told the guys, I said that it was important for a lot of reasons," said Head Coach John Pawlowski. "It carries some type of momentum. We won two of our last three games. That's a positive step in learning how to win and getting that feeling of winning baseball again."
Wofford notched its first run in the first inning on a Seth Neely single to right field, scoring Matthew Kaskow. The run marked the 13th time this season Auburn has trailed in a game. The Tigers have come back to win four of those games.
Auburn starter Trey Wingenter (1-0) only lasted two innings. The freshman, starting his second consecutive midweek game, gave up three runs on four hits and walked one batter. Wofford scored two more runs off Wingenter in the second inning, giving the visitors a 3-0 lead.
Auburn (17-12) answered with a two-run second inning of its own. Junior Damek Tomscha led off with a double to right center, extending his hitting streak to eight games. Freshman Jackson Burgreen reached base on a fielder's choice, and Tomscha advanced to third on a throwing error and then scored. Junior Dan Glevenyak singled with two outs to score Burgreen, cutting Wofford's lead to 3-2.
Wofford (13-18) committed three errors in the game compared to Auburn's one.
"The guys have continued to work hard at it," Pawlowski said. "We're gonna get better at it, but I thought we did some really good things. Jordan Ebert made a tremendous play up the middle. Danny Glevenyak made a great play on a chopper over the mound."
Auburn tied the game in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from freshman Sam Gillikin, scoring Burgreen from third. It was Gillikin's first start since Auburn's game with Kennesaw State Feb. 26.
"It was good to see guys like Sam Gillikin jump in there, and Jackson Burgreen," Pawlowski said. "Both those guys helped us today. They haven't been in there in a while, so good to get them back going again."
Wofford quickly regained the lead in the fifth inning when Alec Paradowski scored on a fielder's choice, giving Wofford a 4-3 lead.
The lead didn't last long. Auburn tied it at 4-4 off an RBI-single from Tomscha that scored freshman Jordan Ebert. Auburn left the bases loaded in the inning and left 12 men on base total.
Auburn brought in pitcher Justin Camp (3-0) in the third inning. The redshirt freshman pitched five innings and gave up one run on four hits.
The Tigers pulled away with three runs in the sixth inning, giving them a 7-4 lead. Gillikin started things off with a bunt single. Glevenyak singled up the middle and took second on the throw. A throwing error by the Wofford third baseman allowed Gillikin to score and Glevenyak to take third.
Junior Ryan Tella singled up the middle to score Glevenyak. Tella stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Ebert. Tomscha singled to left field and scored Tella.
Tomscha finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs and one run.
Junior pitcher Reid Carter pitched the last two innings of the game for Auburn, giving up no hits, striking out three and walking one to earn his first save of the season.
"The focus today was on just being a better baseball team, from pitching, defense and situational hitting," Pawlowski said."I thought we were much better in a lot of those phases."
Auburn will play a three-game series at Texas A&M, the first-ever series between the two teams, starting Friday, April 5.
"It's important for the mindset of the team that we know we can have success against anybody we play," Pawlowski said. "And not just midweek, but on the weekend, too. I think that they got to continue to have that mindset and carry that winning attitude into the weekend."
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