A day after junior Casey Mize showed why he was named a preseason All-American on the mound, catcher Steven Williams made the most of his first career start at the plate.
The Albany, Georgia native became the first Auburn player to homer in his first at-bat of the season since Jordan Ebert in 2015 with a three-run home run in the first inning and the Tigers routed Longwood 25-1. Auburn’s 25 runs were the most in a game since the Tigers scored 26 against Troy in 2009.
Williams added RBI singles in the second, third, and fourth innings and finished with seven RBIs on the day, the most by an Auburn player since Tony Caldwell had seven against Kentucky in 2011.
“It seems like a dream right now,” Williams said. “Just running the bases after the home run, it was really surreal. This is a lifelong dream just to be playing at Auburn, and to have a debut like that is something special.”
Right fielder Eduoard Julien also made his first career start and went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. The Quebec City, Quebec native also drew two walks.
Davis Daniel picked up where Mize left off on Friday as he tossed three scoreless innings, gave up just one hit, and struck out three.
Longwood starter Cody Boydstun lasted just two innings and allowed nine earned runs. Lancer pitching did not throw a scoreless inning until the sixth as Auburn scored multiple runs in each of the first five innings.
“Just good to get everybody in the ballgame,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “That’s where we got better. We didn’t get better because of the score of a baseball game. We got Davis Daniel out there, he’s still a little rusty, just missing that ten days. Being competitive on the mound, he needed that.”
Peyton Glavine hit the first two batters he faced in the ninth inning, but recovered to strike out the side and end the ballgame. Even in a blowout, Thompson was encouraged by his team’s response to adversity.
“[Glavine] hit two batters and every member of the infield came up, a coach didn’t go out,” Thompson said. “They all patted him on the back for a second without a coach initiating in it. Those are good things to see. I like what I’m seeing out of my ball club.”
Tanner Burns will look to continue the freshman success Sunday as he will take the mound to close out the three-game series against Longwood. First pitch from Plainsman Park is set for 1 PM.
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