The day started with rain and it was cloudy throughout, but that didn’t stop the Auburn bats from staying hot in the Sunday finale of its four-game series against Illinois-Chicago.
A Steven Williams double to right field got things started in the first and an 11-run fourth inning allowed the Tigers to cruise to a 14-0 victory in seven innings, sweeping the opening series of the season. Between the four games, Auburn combined to beat UIC 44-7.
While there’s no run-rule in baseball, UIC needed to leave early to catch their flight back to Chicago.
“Guys played solid all weekend,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “I thought our guys played well, I don’t think there’s any glossing over that. All four starters got us off to a decent start in the ball game. The first three starters got us five innings into the ballgame, Bailey got us four today.”
The offense came alive in the fourth and Auburn benefited from four walks and three UIC errors in the inning.
Second baseman Garrett Farquhar had four RBIs in the fourth inning alone while Matt Scheffler, Brody Moore, Tyler Miller, Rankin Woley and John Samuel Shenker all added runs.
“Coach Gross gave us a good approach to stick to so I try to stick with that as much as I could,” Farquhar said. “Couple pitches got left up and had some good success on it. Got some confidence, too.”
Dual-sport athlete Shenker earned his second consecutive start in the designated hitter's slot, going 2 for 3 with an RBI. This marked Shenker’s first time playing baseball in several years, and Thompson was impressed with him.
“He got a double, he got a single, he got hit by a pitch, he drew a walk,” Thompson said. “He’s not just up their flailing. I have so much respect for him because this is a guy who, two plus years, hasn’t had a competitive at bat, much less college never existed for him. We’re talking about weeks, he picked up with us on January the 10th or whatever.”
For Shenker, returning to baseball took a little getting used to.
“It’s definitely something I had to get used to after being gone so long,” Shenker said. “Getting back in the groove. Getting my timing down. Still working on that today, obviously, but it’s a work in progress. Everyday I’m just trying to fine tune it a little bit more.”
While the bats were hot for Auburn, lefty Bailey Horn pitched four shutout innings, giving up just one hit and striking out seven.
Horn started early striking out two in the first inning and after the first two runners got on base in the second, Horn struck out the next three batters.
“Felt really good,” Horn said. “Came out, arm felt good. Mixing all my pitches well. Had faith in the guys behind me and I felt like we came out and played well today.”
Following Horn, sophomore Brooks Fuller came in for the first time this season, striking out three and allowing two hits in two innings.
After building up a 13-run lead, Auburn was able to put in the backups, allowing freshman Mason Greer to get his first career hit on a pinch-hit double. The Tigers were also able to move players around and get experience, something that Thompson believes will be important moving forward.
While Auburn swept the series, it came with slight hamstring injuries to Kason Howell on Friday and Steven Williams today.
“I would not want to get Kason or Steven back into competition until were 100% that they’re fully healthy,” Thompson said.
Auburn returns to action Tuesday, hosting Oakland at 5 p.m. CST in Plainsman Park.
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