The Auburn Tigers completed their first sweep of the season with a 4-3 victory over Lipscomb at Plainsman Park Sunday.
A solid pitching effort from the Tigers’ bullpen and more late-game hitting heroics from senior third baseman Bryson Ware helped Auburn improve to a 9-1-1 record.
Ware hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning which eventually became the game winner for the Tigers. Ware recorded a home run in each game of the series, tallying three homers in 13 at-bats, including a game-tying two-run homer in Saturday’s game.
Ware took note of the changeups thrown by Lipscomb’s reliever, graduate student Noah Thompson. Thompson had retired Auburn’s first two batters in the eighth inning before a double from graduate student Justin Kirby and a walk to freshman Ike Irish extended the inning, allowing Ware to get to the plate.
“They brought in their closer that had been effective, and I knew he threw a lot of changeups on the at-bats leading up to mine,” Ware said. “I had in the back of my mind that he’s probably going to throw a changeup. He left it up and right over the plate, and I just got enough of it to get it out.”
The third game of the series showcased an effective Tigers pitching lineup. Freshman pitcher Zach Crotchfelt (6.35 ERA) made his first career start for the Tigers, allowing two runs on six hits in four innings pitched.
Freshman Hayden Murray (2.45 ERA) relieved Crotchfelt in the fifth inning, allowing one run on three hits in 1.2 innings pitched.
Sophomore Parker Carlson (7.71 ERA) took the mound following Murray in the top of the sixth, and struck out Lipscomb’s leadoff hitter, sophomore Caleb Ketchup, who had homered in the third to put the Bisons up 2-0.
Sophomore pitcher John Armstrong (3.00 ERA) came on in the seventh inning for his second appearance of the weekend and eventually earned the win, his fourth of the season against zero losses in six appearances. Armstrong allowed just one runner to reach base off an error in three innings pitched.
“I threw quite a bit of pitches Friday, so it was a little different coming back with that many pitches thrown,” Armstrong said. “I wanted to come back so badly and was able to do that. [Anthony Sandersen] in the training room helped me out a bit, and I just gave it everything right there at the end.”
Auburn’s pitching rotation threw seven strikeouts in the game, while the Tigers’ batsmen recorded six hits in 30 total at-bats.
Scoring for Auburn also included a fifth inning sacrifice fly from senior catcher Nate LaRue that allowed freshman outfielder Chris Stanfield to score, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Lipscomb’s junior infielder Alec Gonzalez brought the Bisons’ lead back to two with an RBI single that allowed his fellow infielder, redshirt sophomore Parks Bouck, to reach home. This set up the 3-1 Bisons lead erased by Ware’s game-winning home run.
The Tigers (9-1-1) face the UAB Blazers (4-7) in their next game on Tuesday, March 7 at Plainsman Park. The game begins at 6 p.m. CST and will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
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Jack Fawcett is a sports production major from San Diego, California. He started with The Plainsman in January 2023.
