After a 5-3 win over USC, No. 17 Auburn was hungry for another win. The Tigers managed a 12-6 win over the Trojans with help from all of their guys.
“It wasn’t really fun being a pitching coach, but you liked the back-and-forth there because you know what a great offensive team that is, and then our guys kept punching,” said head coach Butch Thompson. “That’s huge for us, and we needed it today.”
The Trojans took the lead early in the game, but Auburn found its momentum late in the sixth and held onto its lead. Early on, Auburn had difficulty in the batter’s box, but Mike Bello’s hit started a hot streak for the Tigers’ offense. The Tigers scored five runs just in the sixth and found another burst of energy in the eighth, scoring four runs.
“We really didn’t have quality at-bats to start the game, and as time moved on, you saw bats go faster and longer,” said Ike Irish. “I think we came around the order two or three times when you saw our swings start to change when you saw balls being barreled into the other gap. I thought after, we had to make an adjustment, but once we made that, I thought all of our swings really turned around.”
The Southern Union transfer Christian Herberholz started the Tigers off on the mound instead of Joseph Gonzalez. With a slow start, Herberholz found a rhythm and recorded four strikeouts with one walk in four innings.
“We all trust Christian, and his ability to pitch, so I think it was just trying to get on the start early and knock them out of the game,” said Cooper McMurray.
In the fifth, Tommy Vail made his debut on the mound. Vail had two strikeouts with two walks. John Armstrong then took over for Vail in the sixth. Armstrong recorded one strikeout with three walks. In the sixth, Will Cannon subbed in for Armstrong. Cannon had one strikeout with one walk.
The Trojans controlled the first four innings, but the Tigers found their rhythm halfway through the game. The young freshman Irish scored Auburn’s first run of the game thanks to a hit by Bryson Ware. Not long after, Ware made it home, closing the score gap.
“It doesn’t matter what they’re doing on the mound. We’re not going to let the pitcher dictate what we’re swinging at or how we’re going to swing it,” Irish said. “At the end of the day, I felt like we stayed who we were as an offense, and I think that showed.”
McMurray and Ware had impressive showings in the batter’s box. Ware had two hits, three runs and one home run. McMurray had three hits, three runs and one home run — his first home run at Auburn.
“All week, we’ve talked about being process-oriented, making everything simple,” McMurray said. “So, that’s what I tried to do today. Keep my front hip in, react with my hands, and let the bat do the work for me.”
The starting pitcher for Sunday’s matchup is still unknown, but Thompson stated that senior Chase Isbell is a likely starter for the Tigers.
“Isbell threw on Tuesday for a couple of innings in Huntsville,” Thompson said. “He’s been out sick for a couple of days, but I would expect that if coach Schoenrock gives me the green light, that’s the name we’ll pass on to Southern California to get his start.”
Thompson also mentioned that Trevor Horne, Parker Carlson and Hayden Murphy might be on the sheet for tomorrow’s game.
The Tigers play the Trojans tomorrow at noon CST and gates open at 11 a.m. CST.
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Caitlyn Griffin is a sophomore from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. She started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
Twitter: @caitlyngrif99
