The Auburn Tigers faced the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday afternoon for the second game of the series. Auburn was unable to pull away with the victory, falling to the Volunteers 12-2 in seven innings.
The Volunteers' bats were hot following Auburn's 9-5 victory on Friday night.
The Volunteers started their home run streak in the top of the second inning when Dalton Bargo hit a solo home run, followed by a grand slam from Christian Moore. Bargo and Dylan Dreiling led the team in home runs with two each. The Vols stayed consistent at the plate the entire game, with a total of 13 hits with six of those being home runs, which generated 10 of their 12 runs. Comparatively, Auburn recorded just three hits.
Head Coach Butch Thompson acknowledged Tennessee’s hitting ability following the game.
“This is about standing at the plate and getting swings off," Thompson said. "Their intent is to hit home runs. I think we had a bunch of strikeouts last night because they're going for it.”
Another key part in Auburn’s lack of offense was Tennessee's opening pitcher, Drew Beam. Beam pitched all seven innings, only walking one batter, striking out eight and keeping his pitch count low.
“The way Beam pitched today, it's more than they needed," Thompson said. "It was a huge moment in the ball game.”
Auburn did not have the same luck on the mound. Four pitchers were used in the game against the Volunteers: Conner McBride, Tanner Bauman, Chase Allsup and Ben Schorr. Allsup, who has been a starter for most of the season, came in halfway through to pitch for the majority of the game. All four pitchers combined faced 38 batters, with five walks and six strikeouts.
“We pitched four guys, so that left us some guys. That’s positive.” Thompson said. “Thing is for them, if you play that game you got to play both sides. They pitched one guy.”
Auburn did pick up the tempo late in the seventh inning when Cooper McMurray sent a pitch to left field for a double. Chris Stanfield followed in his lead doing the same. After two wild pitches from Beam, Mcmurray and Stanfield scored. However, it was too late in the game for Auburn to have a successful comeback.
This was the second game of the series between Auburn and Tennessee, tying the series at 1-1 and putting Auburn in position to possibly win its first conference series in the rubber match on Sunday.
Auburn will face the Tennessee Volunteers for the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. CST at Plainsman Park.
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Madelyn Marsh is a freshman from Castroville, Texas, who is majoring in journalism. She joined The Plainsman in fall 2023.
