With a long day of baseball ahead, the No. 14 Auburn Tigers (8-1) claimed game one 8-1 against the UConn Huskies (2-5) in Saturday’s doubleheader.
Although UConn got the jump early, Auburn’s veterans stole the lead at the bottom of the third and held that lead until the end.
In 30 at-bats, Auburn collected eight runs, nine hits – one triple and two home runs – and eight RBIs, while UConn had one run, six hits – two doubles and one home run – and one RBI in 31 at-bats.
Jacksonville State transfer Mason Maners led the Tigers’ offense, going 3-for-4 at the plate, adding one run and two RBIs to the stat sheet. Cooper Weiss followed with his two runs, three hits and three RBIs.
The Huskies commanded the lead at the top of the first, with Jake Studley hammering his ball to right field for a home run. But the Tigers matched that run with their own. With Weiss and Ike Irish on second and third, Bobby Peirce grounded out to Ryan Daniels, while Weiss was sent home to score.
Weiss struck again, this time in the third inning. With a full count on the board, the veteran homered to right field, sending it 355 feet to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
In the fifth, Javon Hernandez earned his second hit of the season with a triple sent to shallow left field. Then Weiss had a sacrifice fly to right field, and Hernandez gave Auburn a 3-1 lead.
Following Hernandez’s run, Peirce stepped up to the plate, hitting a two-run homer to extend Auburn’s lead by four.
Auburn carried its offensive surge to the eighth with Maners’ single up the middle that sent Deric Fabian and Copper McMurray home, making it 7-1. Thanks to Weiss’ single to first base, Maners added Auburn’s final run to the board.
The Tigers’ pitching staff held the Huskies to eight scoreless frames and recorded eight strikeouts, three walks, one hit-by-pitch and one wild pitch – allowing six hits and one run.
Right-handed pitcher Chase Allsup started on the mound for the Tigers, earning his first win of the season in his six innings pitched. Facing 25 total batters, Allsup had six strikeouts, two walks and one wild pitch, allowing six hits and one run.
RHP John Armstrong relieved Allsup in the seventh. Pitching three innings, Armstrong earned the save with two strikeouts and one walk and allowed no hits or runs.
Freshman Cole Edwards made his first start as the designated hitter, going 0-for-3 at the plate. Fellow freshman Same Robertson made his appearance at the bottom of the eighth to pinch run for Christian Hall.
Auburn hopes to secure the series this evening with game two, commencing 45 minutes after game one.
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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
