Crashing into the right field wall, right fielder Josh Hall hauled in the winning catch to end the comeback effort and seal the 6-5 win for Auburn to take game one of the series versus LSU.
LSU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and finished the game with three unanswered runs, but Auburn's six-run fifth inning proved to be just enough to survive the Tigers of Baton Rouge.
"We wound up scoring six, which barely held up here with a crazy crowd here at Alex Box," said head coach Butch Thompson. "That's us going for it tonight."
Despite a quiet start from the offense, Auburn starting pitcher Hayden Mullins turned in a solid outing and kept Auburn in the game. He went four innings, surrendering two runs on three hits, two walks and seven strikeouts.
Thompson and pitching coach Tim Hudson convened after Mullins' fourth frame and decided his day was over after 86 pitches.
With Mullins' exit, the bats found life.
Starting off the fifth was Cole Foster and Hall with back-to-back singles. After Blake Rambusch laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners into scoring position, LSU threatened to end the rally by inducing a pop fly for the second out.
With two outs and a base open, LSU elected to intentionally walk Auburn slugger Sonny DiChiara to face Cam Hill instead.
Hill proved that to be a mistake and roped a single through the right side to score two and start a two-out rally. Brody Moore kept it going in the next at-bat with a three-run home run to left-center to put Auburn up 5-2.
Following a Mike Bello single and a wild pitch to move him to second, Nate Larue hit a hard grounder that took a hop over the glove of the shortstop and into left field, giving Bello plenty of time to score. This capped off Auburn's six-run frame that accounted for all of Auburn's offense for the day.
"Hitting is contagious," Moore said. "We linked it up, and it was really nice for us to get on a roll."
After an offensive explosion in the top of the fifth, Carson Skipper took the mound in the sixth with a comfortable four-run lead and was able to get on a roll. He cruised through three innings unscathed before LSU enduced its comeback scramble.
Skipper stayed on for the eighth inning and began by fanning his third batter of the night.
From there, it took a turn downhill for Skipper, who gave up a pair of run on a bloop and a two-run blast by Brayden Jobert to cut the LSU deficit to two. He stayed in for another batter and gave up another double to end his otherwise uncontested night by giving up three straight hits.
Auburn closer Blake Burkhalter took over from there and closed out the final 1.2 innings, but it did not come without a scare.
He got two straight outs to strand a runner on second in the eighth and headed to the ninth inning up by two.
Auburn failed to push across any insurance runs in the top of the inning, as it was shut out for the eighth frame in the game and fourth straight.
LSU, however, refused to be shut out to end the contest.
It singled twice in a row to open the inning with runners on the corners with no outs. Then, LSU launched a fly ball to center field, but it fell just shy of the warning track into the glove of Kason Howell. Auburn traded the first out for an LSU run, with the runner from first testing Howell's arm and sliding in safely at second.
Burkhalter sat the next batter down on strikes before the last batter stepped in and flied one down the right field line. As every LSU fan in the stadium prayed for the ball to go out of play, Hall sprinted towards the wall and, sacrificing his body, made the grab while ramming into the wall to end the game.
Hall's acrobatic catch grabbed more than just an out. He grabbed a big series-opening win for Auburn on the road in Baton Rouge, as the team improves to 18-8 and 4-3 in SEC play this season.
Skipper was attributed the win for his 3.1 innings of two-run ball. This comes as his second win of the year, making hime 2-0.
Shutting the door on LSU's comeback effort earned Burkhalter his fifth save of the season.
"My job as a reliever is to come in and get the first guy out," Skipper added. "I feel like myself and Blake (Burkhalter) did that pretty well tonight. We both went out and competed, and Nate (LaRue) called a great game."
Offensively, Auburn had three hitters with multi-hit performances.
Moore went 2-for-5 with a homer and 3 RBIs. Bello followed suit with a 2-for-5 day, including two singles.
Rambusch also had a night to remember, extending his hitting streak to 16 games with a single up the middle in the sixth inning, matching Jonah Todd for the longest hitting streak at Auburn in the last six seasons. He recorded a 2-for-4 day with two singles, a sacrifice bunt and a stolen base.
Auburn hopes to follow up with another win in game two versus LSU tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. CST, as Trace Bright takes the mound looking to seize the series in Alex Box Stadium.
"That's a big win," Skipper said. "Winning game one sets the tone and lets them know we are here to battle this weekend."
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.
