Freshman Christian Chatterton threw six nearly-flawless innings Tuesday night, leading No. 5 Auburn to its fourth shutout of the season, defeating Samford 3-0 at the Hoover Met.
The Tigers’ win marks their second straight two-hit shutout victory and the sixth time this season that Auburn has held its opponent to two hits.
“That’s what we were talking about in the pregame, how important every one of these baseball games are down the stretch,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “It was a good start to the beginning of these last three weeks.”
Chatterton, alongside freshman Andreas Alvarez, collectively pitched eight of the nine innings and had a combined 13 strikeouts against one walk. Ryan Hetzler recorded his team-best sixth save of the season.
“He just picked up where he left off a week later,” said Thompson of Chatterton. “He’s done that three or four times in a row now. The changeup, the conviction with everything. When he needed a pitch, he could get that changeup over every time. It’s just not recognizable right now. That pitch is set as good as any pitch for any pitcher on our pitching staff.”
Chatterton set a career high with 10 strikeouts, matching Carson Myers for the most strikeouts by a Tiger pitcher this season. He shut down his first 12 batters and struck out 18 of the 19 he faced.
“I have to give some credit to Chase Fralick behind the plate. He is part of the reason why I have been pitching so well,” Chatterton said. “He’s helped me with major confidence in the (changeup) as well.
“I think I forgot that my stuff plays in the zone,” Chatterton added. “Once I got back to just pounding the zone with all four pitches, I kind of got my confidence back, and it’s been good recently.”
Chatterton has only allowed one earned run in 19.0 innings, giving him a 0.47 ERA. He has 26 strikeouts with four walks and has held opponents to four hits, earning a .066 average against the stretch.
The freshman had instant offensive help Tuesday night as Auburn (31-14) took charge by getting runs on the board in the top of the first inning. Chris Rembert began the game with a single and was followed by Cade Belyeu two pitches later with a two-run line drive homer to center field. The four-bagger was Belyeu’s fifth of the season, as well as his first since March 25.
“I was just trying to loosen up and put a good swing on the ball,” Belyeu said. “In batting practice, Gabe (Gross) and Karl (Nonemaker) have been helping me a lot. It showed up in the game. At least I got that one in the first to help us win, and huge props to our pitching for that win.”
With the early lead, Chatterton sat down the first six batters he faced with five straight strikeouts in the first two innings. He struck out the final batter in the third and needed only six pitches in the fourth inning to end the inning. The outing marked Chatterton’s second start this season, where he has shut down 12 or more batters to begin a game.
Samford (23-21) started the fifth inning with a double to break up the perfect game. The Bulldogs moved the runner to third on a failed pickoff attempt with one out, but Chatterton earned his ninth strikeout of the game, aligning with a season high. A groundout to shortstop allowed the Tigers to end the inning unharmed.
Chatterton acquired his 10th strikeout of the game, a career high, in the top of the sixth and retired the Bulldogs in a row for the fifth time. The freshman has no earned runs in a span of 17.1 innings going back to his first midweek start at Georgia on April 8.
The Tigers got back-to-back hits to extend the lead to 3-0 on an error on a potential double-play ball. Rembert scored from second after reaching home plate for a second time throughout the course of the game to start the frame.
Chatterton surrendered the mound to Alvarez in the seventh. The freshman struck out six of the eight batters he faced in the two scoreless innings before handing the ball to Hetzler in the ninth. Hetzler achieved three outs in eight pitches to end the game.
Rembert, Cooper McMurray, and Bub Terrell put in the work offensively, each collecting several hits to equate to six of the team's eight in the match.
The Tigers go on the road for a top-10 showdown at No. 7 Tennessee (36-9, 13-8 SEC) Friday through Sunday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
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Samantha is a freshman majoring in public relations. She started with The Plainsman in the spring of 2025.
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