An elite showing on the mound from Drew Nelson helped the Auburn Tigers (17-7-1, 2-4 SEC) cruise past the North Alabama Lions (5-18) for the second time this season. The Tigers picked up the 14-1 victory, run-ruling the Lions after 6.5 innings.
“We were locked in to start the game and just kept flipping the lineup,” said head coach Butch Thompson. “I’m excited about that lineup and excited about Drew Nelson and his growth. He’s kind of steadied himself, stayed in there and worked himself up the past few weeks."
Nelson was the only pitcher Auburn used tonight and picked up his second win of the season. The pitching effort from Nelson saw one run allowed off of three hits, one walk and seven strikeouts through seven innings.
“It feels good. I was able to prove myself a little bit,” Nelson said. “I’ve always known I’ve had it, and it has been showing up here recently.”
Avery Brown got the start and the loss for North Alabama in just 0.1 innings, allowing six runs off of five hits and three walks. The Lions used six different pitchers.
Cole Foster got the Tigers' offense going immediately with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Auburn added five more runs in that frame.
North Alabama's sole run came in the top of the second inning when Jackson Cheek doubled to left-center to score Drew Hudson.
Auburn continued to pour it on from the plate, scoring in every inning except for the fourth. Ike Irish hit his second home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning, a three-run shot that also scored Bobby Peirce and Foster.
“We put in a lot of time, a lot of effort, and our coaches just set us up for success, and it’s our job to execute the game plan,” Irish said. “I don’t think it’s me personally, it’s just us as a team. We’ve been really executing what we are supposed to do.”
This game was a bounce-back that Auburn needed badly after being run-ruled 24-7 at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.
“This is a team that is trying to get back healthy and get back into it,” Thompson said. “This last week has been really important for us. Any way, shape, form or fashion you look at it, we’ve won four out of the last five and are about to go face another great opponent. We need to be building some momentum and be thinking a lot of ourselves at this stage.”
Auburn will head down to Gainesville, Florida, this weekend for a three-game series with the No. 2 Florida Gators (22-4, 5-1 SEC). First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. CST on Friday and Saturday, then 12 p.m. CST on Sunday.
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Daniel Locke, junior in journalism, is the community editor for The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @danieljlocke
