Led by the strong pitching by a trio of pitchers, Auburn completed a four-game series sweep of Rhode Island with a 14-1 win on Sunday.
"I thought we handled our business," said head coach Butch Thompson. "When we hit a home run, we run the bases. It just looks professional to me. I just feel like our pitchers are growing. I think I'm the hardest on our pitchers because of where we've been trying to put our pitching staff back together. I like the pieces of depth."
Hayden Mullins received his first start of the season Sunday afternoon. The junior's first start included a shaky beginning as Mullins let Rhode Island fill the bases in the first inning. Already at 32 pitches through just 0.2 innings, Mullins threw a clutch strikeout to end the top half of the frame without allowing a run.
The timely strikeout symbolized how the rest of the game went for Mullins. The left-handed pitcher picked up two more strikeouts in the second inning to bring his total to four. One more in the third inning, and the Tennessee native was rolling.
Meanwhile, Auburn began tacking on runs. After a single from Brody Moore opened the second inning, Ryan Dyal connected on a pitch and recorded a double to put two runners in scoring position.
The next two batters struck out for the Tigers, and after going down 0-2 in the count, it looked like Jake Wyandt may strikeout too, leaving the Tigers empty handed. However, the Presbyterian transfer smoked the next pitch over the wall in left, and Auburn grabbed a 3-0 lead.
Wyandt had a rough start to the season but has started to burst onto the scene lately. Wyandt recorded six RBIs in the series against Rhode Island and scored two runs.
"I wasn't afraid to hit with two strikes," Wyandt said. "He ended up throwing me the same curveball again on that last pitch, and I just let it loose and connected on it."
Jake Wyandt (50) rounds third base after hitting a home run against Rhode Island on March 6, 2022 at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala.
Parker Carlson entered the game in relief of Mullins in the fourth inning.
Mullins finished the day with five strikeouts, two walks and no runs on one hit in his three innings pitched.
Wyandt noted postgame that as a catcher, he has been incredibly impressed with the growth of the pitching.
"I think the pitching has improved greatly," Wyandt said. "I think the guys have built a lot of confidence throughout the fall and throughout the offseason and carrying it into the spring."
Carlson went the next three innings. Though he gave up a leadoff home run to start the fifth inning, Carlson was nearly perfect after. The freshman from Mobile had four strikeouts and allowed two hits, one earned run and one walk.
A fifth-inning home run allowed Rhode Island to pull one back and made it a 3-1 ballgame.
As Rhode Island threatened, the Rams elected to make a pitching change and brought in Bo Brutti. With the new face on the mound, Auburn woke up again offensively.
Auburn saw five consecutive batters reach base to open the inning. During that streak, Auburn scored four runs when Cam Hill hit a two-RBI single up the middle, and designated hitter Brooks Carlson launched a two-run homer the next at bat, the first of his career.
Brooks Carlson (19) celebrates with teammates Cam Hill (16) and Brody Moore (4) on March 6, 2022 at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala.
Rhode Island made another pitching change in the inning, but Wyandt hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded later in the inning to mark his fourth RBI of the game.
The emergence of Wyandt has garnered a lot of praise for the him, but the graduate transfer made sure to stay humble.
"This is what I've always wanted for the past couple years," Wyandt said. "It's been a grind to get here and just to get here in the first place, I'm really appreciative of that and then you never take it for advantage after coming from a JUCO and then a real small mid-major, division one school."
Auburn was not finished adding insurance runs, though. Just an inning later, Auburn found the bases loaded with one out. The Rams made a change at pitcher, but it did not matter. Dyal turned on the first pitch from Jon Morrison and sent one flying over the wall for a grand slam to make it 12-1.
Next up in the slugfest was Garrett Farquhar, who hit a two-run blast to stretch Auburn's lead to 13.
Tommy Sheehan entered the game in the seventh inning and pitched three hitless innings with five strikeouts to finish off Rhode Island and complete the four-game sweep.
With Auburn's next game just a couple days away, Thompson was thankful for how easy the pitching came to Auburn today.
"The players, their job is to look through a microscope," Thompson said. "A coach looks through a telescope, and we do have a game Tuesday, so all that that does by them doing a good job is it allows us to probably be stronger in the bullpen in the midweek, so I am very thankful for that."
The Tigers are now 11-2 on the season, and they end their six-game week undefeated.
In its next action, Auburn plays Tennessee Tech (10-0) in Hunstville, Alabama, on Tuesday at Toyota Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST.
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Jacob is a sophomore from Leeds, Alabama. This is his second year with The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @JacobWaters_
