Auburn baseball wrapped up their weekend sweep at the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series with a 7-4 victory over Baylor on Sunday evening at Globe Life Field.
The win marked Auburn's 10th consecutive victory, extending its longest streak since winning 15 straight games to start the 2019 season. It also signified just the third time in the past 14 seasons that the Tigers have swept three games against power-five opponents on the road.
“This weekend was a learning experience. We’ll take a lot away from it,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “I think we’re playing tough, and that’s what we need. It has to be coached into us and become part of our identity. Baseball is a mental game, and after playing so many innings, you have to rely on your mind. I’m excited for the team to play well and win, but I also need to find ways for us to learn a few things.”
Christian Chatterton (1-0), making his third consecutive start, earned his first career win while striking out a season-high nine batters, tying with fellow freshman Andreas Alvarez for the most strikeouts by an Auburn freshman since 2014.
The freshman gave up a leadoff home run on the second pitch but settled in, tossing 5.0 solid innings and allowing only one more hit.
“Obviously, that’s not how I wanted to start, but Coach (Foxhall) always emphasizes sticking to the game plan. If the first plan doesn’t work, you move to plan B,” Chatterton said. “That’s what I did. It wasn’t ideal, but we made adjustments and got it done.”
Offensively, Chase Fralick led Auburn with three hits and two RBIs, marking his fifth multi-hit and fourth multi-RBI game of the season. He was one of three Auburn players with multiple hits.
“Everything Gabe (Gross) preaches is about consistency and attacking our approach,” Fralick said. “We aim to keep the same routine and execute the gameplan. When we follow his lead, good things happen.”
Baylor took an early 1-0 lead with a solo home run on the second pitch of the game. However, Chatterton responded by striking out three of the next four batters, two of them looking.
Auburn quickly answered in the second inning with two runs. Fralick’s two-out single scored Cooper McMurray, and Bristol Carter added another two-out hit to bring in Bub Terrell and give Auburn the lead.
The offense remained productive in the third, adding two more runs. Cade Belyeu drew a leadoff walk and later scored on a Deric Fabian RBI single. After Terrell walked to load the bases, Chris Rembert was hit by a pitch, extending the lead to 4-1.
Chatterton continued to dominate, retiring nine of the next 11 batters, including striking out the side in the third. He didn’t give up another hit until the fourth inning, where he struck out the next two batters for his seventh and eighth strikeouts.
The Tigers added another two-out run in the fifth when Fralick drove in McMurray with his second two-out single of the game, pushing the lead to 5-1.
Chatterton worked a clean fifth inning and finished with a line of just two batters over the minimum after allowing the leadoff home run.
Freshman Jackson Sanders took over in relief and worked out of a jam in the seventh, getting a groundout to end the inning after Baylor had two on with two outs.
With Auburn ahead 5-1, Baylor nearly escaped a tough spot in the eighth with two on and no outs, but Belyeu blasted a two-run homer to extend the lead. Facing a full count, he connected on a breaking ball, sending it inside the right-field foul pole for his second home run of the season.
Dylan Watts entered in relief in the eighth, and Baylor responded with a two-run home run, narrowing the lead to 7-3. The Bears almost went back-to-back, but Bristol Carter deflected a potential homer back into the park with his glove and made a perfect relay throw to get the runner out at third.
Ryan Hetzler closed the game in the ninth, allowing an unearned run on a sacrifice fly but inducing a groundout to end the game with the potential tying run on deck.
Auburn concludes its four-game road trip with a matchup against UAB at Regions Field in Birmingham, AL on Tuesday, March 4 at 6 p.m. CST.
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Sarah is a freshman majoring in public relations. She started with The Plainsman in the spring of 2025.
You can follow her on X (Twitter) at @sarahsewall12
