No. 18 Auburn displayed its offensive power in a 15-9 victory over the UT Martin Skyhawks.
The offensive started off slow with only one run scored through the first two innings, but a four-run bottom of the third ignited the offense. The team would go on to finish the night with season highs in both hits and runs with 18 and 15, respectively.
“It was kind of back-and-forth like the Sunday UCF game, and to see the offense kind of lock it down was good,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “Will Holland gets four hits. That’s huge. Backside (home run) for Edouard Julien, and Everett Lau, who got some more at-bats, he went backside in that four-run inning. That was really pretty, and his three-run homer distanced the ballgame. We had some good at-bats.”
The dominant offensive play was highlighted by the junior Lau. Lau recorded his first career home run in the bottom of the seventh and finished the night with a team high five RBI. Will Holland also added four hits with Edouard Julien contributing three.
The defensive play also had a stagnant start, allowing UT Martin to score three runs in both the first and second inning. The pace would change starting in the third as Auburn held UT Martin to back-to-back scoreless innings in the third and fourth, and would only allow three scattered runs for the remainder of the game.
Freshman Richard Fitts highlighted the defensive effort with one strikeout in his first career win. Fitts was one of five Auburn pitchers to take the mound against UT Martin. Bailey Horn and Ryan Watson also both had one strikeout.
"If the pitching can’t set the tone, then I really give a lot of credit to our offense tonight,” Thompson added. “We could’ve made a lot of excuses. Our offense kept their wits about them and gave us a chance to score. We outlasted them at the end.”
Auburn will face off against the UT Martin Skyhawks again on Wednesday, March 5. The game is schedule to begin at 4 p.m. CST.
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