No. 15 Auburn earned their first road win of the season, defeating UCF, 4-1, Friday night. The three Tiger pitchers who took the mound combined for 10 strikeouts and allowed only five hits.
“Our guys did a great job,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “I thought the difference was the guys on the mound.”
Tanner Burns was the one to toe the rubber for the Tigers in Orlando, Florida. After a rocky first inning, where he threw 30 plus pitches, he settled down and pitched for 5.2 innings. He allowed one run on two hits, walked two and struck out seven. This is his first win of the 2019 season.
“It was fun getting the ball the first game of the series, especially on the road,” Burns said.
The Tigers’ batting order stepped up in the top of the second to give their pitcher some breathing room, after he faced a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the first. Edouard Julien hit a two-run home run to put the Tigers up 2-0. It was his third in his last four at-bats. It’s his fourth of the season, which leads the SEC.
“I’m just trying to put the ball in play,” Julien said. “I’m not trying to do too much. I just hope I do that for a long time and help the team win.”
While Burns struck out the Knights in order from the second through the fourth innings – earning five of his seven strikeouts during that span – the Tigers continued to add to their lead.
Ryan Bliss hit an RBI double of the wall in left field to get the Tigers up 3-0. After the Knights hit two straight singles in the sixth, Elliot Anderson came in to pitch. He allowed one more single that got the Knights their first run of the game. Burns was responsible for that run. Anderson went for two scoreless innings and allowed three hits.
In the eighth, Cody Greenhill took over with the bases loaded and two outs. He needed only two pitches to end UFC’s potential rally. After Kason Howell hit a sacrifice fly to get the Tigers another run on the board, Greenhill came back in to finish out the game. He earned his first save of the year after retiring the Knights in order.
“Edouard started off with a two-run shot and Bliss followed behind him,” Burns said. “Elliot picked me up and then Cody finished it. It was all just a great team win, and we have to get (back) out tomorrow.”
Auburn looks to clinch the series tomorrow. Kyle Gray will get start for Auburn and the Knights will hand the ball over to right-hander Trevor Holloway.
“We were in the same position last week," Thompson said. "We had a chance in game two to win the series, and it took us 13 innings in game three to win the series. We'll come back tomorrow with that intent, to try and win a series tomorrow.”
Game time is set for 5 p.m. CST Saturday evening at John Euliano Park.
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