Auburn earned the series sweep against Eastern Kentucky on Sunday at Plainsman Park as it defeated the Colonels 9-1.
The Tigers carried the weekend momentum into Sunday’s contest as they wasted no time putting up crooked numbers. They scored in the first three innings of work, putting up 10 hits on the day. The Tigers were led by Deric Fabian, who recorded his first hits of the young season, and Cooper Weiss.
Fabian was 3-for-4 with three RBIs while Weiss was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
“It was great, truthfully,” Fabian said. “I’m just happy I did it for my teammates. You know, they’ve been working hard all spring and all fall. Just for me to be able to do it for them. It’s kind of the best part about it.”
The bottom of the lineup showed promise for the Tigers as the last three hitters recorded seven of Auburn's 10 hits on the day. Christian Hall went deep for Auburn in the second inning and was 1-for-2 in the eighth spot, just ahead of Fabian.
“I definitely think the depth of the lineup gives us an advantage over teams for sure. I know a lot of guys could get upset that they’re at the bottom of the order, but we look at it as you know, we can turn the lineup over and just give it to the other guys,” Fabian said.
Carson Myers made his first appearance in orange and blue, as he got the start on the hump for the Tigers, and did not disappoint. Myers went through six innings of work, striking out eight and only giving up two hits.
“It was awesome,” Myers said. “I mean, this is such a prestigious school in baseball. It’s just to be able to play and put on this uniform is just awesome. And just to be able to compete for my guys and the coaching staff and the people I love. It’s just what I could have dreamed of.”
Pitching in relief the rest of the way was redshirt senior Christian Herberholz. Herberholz gave up a triple to Conner Davis right out of the gates, who later scored on a groundball to third for the Colonels' only score of the game.
After that, he cruised through the Colonels' lineup, giving up only one hit through three innings of work and recording three strikeouts to bring the Tigers' total to 14.
Only going with two arms on the mound Sunday, the rotation still seems to be up in the air for head coach Butch Thompson as he tries to figure it out.
“There’s some guys we still want to see that did not pitch this weekend because we were trying to build up Herberholz – he got that change-up going today. Myers had a little bit of everything," Thompson said. “So I hope we get to continue to see that depth advertised on Tuesday because, at the end of the day, you’re about as good as you are in your depth of being able to compete four games a week.”
The Tigers will take the day off on Monday before playing host to UAB on Tuesday with the first pitch scheduled at 6 p.m. CST. The game will be streamed on the SEC Network+.
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Logan Fowler is a junior from Sumiton, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He joined The Plainsman in Spring 2024.
