After two-straight losses to a pair of Big 12 schools in the Round Rock Classic, Auburn baseball finished out the annual tournament with a win against SEC foe Texas A&M on Sunday. Trace Bright’s career outing for Auburn helped the Tigers notch a 6-1 victory and head back to the Plains on a positive note.
Bright’s six innings are a career-high for innings pitched in an outing, allowing three runs and no hits while on the mound.
“The game ball definitely goes to Trace Bright,” said head coach Butch Thompson. “Command is the word. He had authority over the mound. He had authority over the baseball. Everybody playing behind him responded to it.”
Auburn had a batter reach base in every inning but didn’t get on the board until there were two down in the top of the fourth.
Amid a pitcher's duel, Tyler Miller doubled down the left-field line for the third Auburn hit. The next batter, Kason Howell, put the Tigers on the board with his RBI single to right-center field. Miller crossed the plate, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Miller finished the day as the most efficient Tiger at the plate, going 4-of-4 with a double and an RBI. He’s now reached base in all eight of his last eight plate appearances, going 7-for-7 with a double, triple and a home run, while tacking on four RBI in that span.
“Tyler Miller just keeps swinging the bat,” Thompson said. “He had another good day swinging the bat.”
Auburn didn’t score again until the seventh inning, but meanwhile on the mound, Bright continued to do his thing.
The sophomore didn’t allow a hit until Texas A&M's Brett Minnich had a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth for the Aggies. Minnich’s time on the basepath was short-lived after a ground-ball double-play cleared the bases.
Minnich was just one of five Aggies who reached base during the six shutout innings that Bright pitched.
“Coming out of the bullpen and warmups, you have to be ready,” Bright said. “You have eight warmup pitches to adjust on the game mound, and you’ve got to be ready to go from the start. That was a big adjustment I had to make from Tuesday. I kind of struggled in that first inning, and I knew I had to set the tone for the team in that first inning today.”
In the seventh, Auburn loaded the bases after Miller collected his third hit, Kason Howell walked and Ryan Dyal singled. Steven Williams knocked in two with one swing after dropping one into right field for a base hit. It pushed the lead to 3-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
The Tigers broke it open in the top half of the eighth. Brody Moore and Bryson Ware both singled in the eighth, while Miller’s fourth hit knocked in Moore giving Auburn a 4-0 lead. An error by Texas A&M tacked on another for Auburn, as Dyal reached on the error and Ware crossed the plate.
Rankin Woley got his fifth RBI of the season in the ninth inning, scoring Ryan Bliss for an insurance run. The Aggies managed to erase the shutout in the bottom of the ninth with its lone run of the day. The Aggies had scored 20 runs over the weekend entering the game against Auburn; the Tigers limited them to a one-run effort over four hits on Sunday.
The Tigers will travel back to Auburn and return to action at Plainsman Park on Tuesday. They face off against Jacksonville State with the first pitch set for 4 p.m. CST.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
