The No. 14 Auburn Tigers showcased their abilities on the mound and in the batter’s box in a dominant 12-3 win against the Samford Bulldogs with Auburn’s veterans leading the show on Tuesday.
“These guys have enough belief in themselves and each other that I think that’s my highlight today is just sitting back having conversations waiting to see how they would respond,” said head coach Butch Thompson. “So I couldn’t be more pleased in how they carried themselves and how they worked yesterday to prepare for today. And then how they executed once they got to the game.”
The Tigers flaunted their offensive strengths with 10 RBIs, 11 hits – three home runs, one triple and one double – and 12 runs in 32 at-bats. Veteran Bobby Peirce led the charge, going 3-for-4 at the plate and adding two runs, three hits and one RBI to the stat sheet.
Peirce got Auburn’s offense rolling with a triple sent down the right-field line, sending Cooper Weiss home to score.
Fellow veterans Cooper McMurray and Christian Hall made their crucial contributions. McMurray added two runs, one two-run homer and three RBIs to the total, alongside Hall’s three-run home run.
In the first, McMurray followed the right fielder’s lead, hitting his home run deep into left-center field on the first pitch of his at-bat. Hall added three runs to Auburn’s 5-0 lead in the third inning with his homer hammered over the right-field wall.
Adding more chaos for Samford’s defense, Weiss walked four times and stole four bases. In his short time on the Plains, Weiss continues to etch his name into Auburn history, matching assistant coach Gabe Gross’ program record for walks in a game (four) and claiming the single-game record for stolen bases (four) for the second time this season.
“You have to have that confidence in yourself,” Weiss said. “This year, I made sure to put that in my game, using a stolen base to my advantage, creating chaos for the defense.”
Defensively, Auburn’s pitching staff collected seven strikeouts and no walks while allowing four hits and three runs – facing 32 total batters – compared to Samford’s five strikeouts and six walks with 11 hits and 12 runs – facing 42 total batters.
Auburn's player of the game Conner McBride showcased his experience with his five commanding innings, keeping Samford to four scoreless frames.
“McBride set the tone,” Thompson said. “He’s got to be our player of the game because that’s such an important piece of this game. He was in command, and sometimes on a Sunday and Tuesday, just the ability to have authority over the baseball means a lot, and he had more than one pitcher working too.”
Facing 17 total batters, McBride secured five strikeouts and no walks and allowed only two hits and one run, earning his first win as a Tiger.
“I was just so locked into performing and executing the next pitch,” McBride said.
Griffin Graves relieved McBride to pitch 0.1 innings, adding two walks, two runs and one hit. Dylan Watts came in the sixth with bases loaded and pitched for 1.2 innings. Watts allowed no hits or runs and added one strikeout to the stat sheet.
Parker Carlson relieved Watts at the top of the eighth, allowing no hits or runs during his one inning. Cameron Keshock closed out the game by striking out pinch-hitter Parker McDonald.
Auburn hosts the UConn Huskies for a three-game series this weekend, March 1-3, which will be broadcast on the SEC Network+. Due to weather concerns, Friday’s time is to be determined, but Saturday and Sunday’s games are set for 1 p.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
