Freshmen have been a major key to Auburn’s success this season. On the biggest stage this season, the newcomers shined just as bright.
Edouard Julien and Steven Williams each launched three-run home runs to help Auburn cruise to a 13-4 victory over Northeastern in the opening game of the Raleigh Regional.
“I thought our freshman really showed up especially on offense," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. "For (Williams) to have the day he had at the plate today, I’m proud of him and Gabe (Gross) and all of our players to continue to work in our down time since this SEC Tournament.
"I just thought the first inning was huge. They had bases loaded and we got out of the inning with I think, popup and ground ball and then Ed hitting the home run in the first inning to go up 3-0 was huge in the ballgame.”
Fellow freshman Tanner Burns, who became the first freshman to start the opening game of a NCAA regional for Auburn since 1998, fired six innings, allowing three runs (two earned) while scattering seven hits.
“It’s special,” Burns said about Auburn's trio of freshmen. “We’re young and we’re having success right now, but we’ve also had some failure. I guess us three getting it going sets it up for the rest of the week. It’s fun and we’re all enjoying it.”
The Decatur, Alabama, native struck out a pair and walked one to earn his seventh win of the season.
“That wasn’t my best outing, but I had to keep fighting each inning, each pitch,” Burns said. “The offense gave me a lot of confidence to go back each inning and keep getting us back in the dugout. I give all of the credit to the offense today. They kept me motivated and they had me a lot of confidence coming back each inning.”
With runners on the corners and two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Julien hit his 16th home run of the year to give Auburn a 3-0 cushion. The blast gave Julien 65 RBIs, which is tied with Auburn hitting coach Gabe Gross (1999) and Todd Faulkner (1998) for the second-most by a freshman at Auburn. Frank Thomas holds the record with 68 in 1987.
After Northeastern tallied a pair of runs in the third inning, Auburn responded with a two-out RBI single by Jay Estes to push its lead to 4-2.
In the fourth, Williams blew the game open with his 11th big fly of his freshman campaign.
The Tigers tallied three more runs in the sixth inning highlighted by a pair of RBI doubles by Will Holland and Williams.
Auburn tacked on three more in the seventh and eighth innings on a RBI single by Holland and two run-scoring wild pitches.
Williams finished a perfect 4-for-4 with four runs scored and four RBI. Brett Wright recorded three hits for the Tigers, while Josh Anthony notched two.
All nine starters for the Tigers reached base in the contest. Auburn racked up 17 hits in the blowout victory.
Welby Malczewski threw three innings to close things out of the Auburn bullpen. He allowed one run on two hits and struck out a pair.
Charlie McConnell finished 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and a RBI for Northeastern. Tyler Brown took the loss for the Huskies, as the starter allowed six runs on eight hits over 3.1 innings.
Auburn will face the winner of the North Carolina State/Army game at 6 p.m. CST Saturday. Northeastern will take on the loser of the second game of the Raleigh Regional at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The win marked Thompson's 100th victory as the head coach at Auburn.
Auburn ace Casey Mize is the likely candidate to take the mound on Saturday for the Tigers, although no official announcement has been made.
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