Auburn (20-21, 2-17 SEC) fell in its series opener against LSU (27-16, 6-13 SEC) on Friday, losing 5-0 at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Dylan Watts got the start for the Tigers and put on an impressive display, retiring the first 11 batters he faced while striking out a season-high nine batters in 5.2 innings.
LSU’s pitching, led by Gage Jump and Christian Little, managed to keep the Auburn offense at bay, allowing only two hits throughout the game.
Jump and Little stifled Auburn's offense for the entire contest, as Jump allowed only two baserunners in 7.0 innings, and Little retired all six Auburn hitters he faced to seal the Bayou Bengals 5-0 victory.
“They’ve been competitive starts, so there’s been a little bit of growth,” head coach Butch Thompson said of Watts’ solid start. “(Dylan) had nine strikeouts and no walks against a good lineup, so I’m seeing growth.”
Watts retired the first 11 LSU hitters with just 36 pitches, throwing 26 strikes. However, LSU Tiger Tommy White broke Watts’ solid pitching start by launching the first pitch of the fourth inning over the right-center fence, and the Bayou Bengals did not look back.
Auburn managed to threaten in the fifth inning when Chris Stanfield singled and stole second base, but the Tigers could not capitalize, leaving Stanfield stranded as the game remained a one-run affair.
LSU extended its lead in the fifth with a solo home run from Hayden Travinski, but Watts managed to strike out the next three batters he faced. In the seventh inning, LSU scored three runs on a two-RBI double and an RBI single, with four of the Bayou Bengals' five runs coming with two outs to secure their 5-0 win over Auburn.
Despite giving up two solo homers, Watts concluded his outing with season highs in innings pitched and strikeouts, claiming the most strikeouts by an Auburn pitcher this season. The only hits he allowed were two solo home runs.
Looking ahead to game two, Coach Thompson emphasized the importance of strategic at-bats and execution against LSU in order to exploit key opportunities.
“Can we have at-bats to make it harder to play defense, and can we come up with a strategy and execute a plan against a starter to try to get to something that might be a challenge on the other side that we can exploit?” Thompson said.
Auburn and LSU are set to begin game two Saturday at 6 p.m. CST. The matchup will be televised on SEC Network+.
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Grace Heim is a junior from Enterprise, Alabama, majoring in English Literature. She started with The Plainsman in January 2023.
