The No. 6 Auburn Tigers (17-2, 3-0) won their 10th consecutive game on Saturday afternoon, completing the weekend sweep of Missouri to mark their first road sweep to kick off conference play since 2010.
The Tigers shut out Missouri 2-0 in the first game on Friday night, and capped the series with a doubleheader on Saturday, defeating the yellow and black Tigers 4-3 and 9-2 in the second and third matchups, respectively.
“I know a sweep on the road, how tough that is, how special that is,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said after the series. “I thought all six starting pitchers — their three, our three — were exceptional.”
“It just gets tougher from here, but a good start to SEC play,” Thompson added. “All around, the guys continued to play tough and hard for us. This might not have been our best weekend series of playing baseball, but we’re in this league now and it’s going to be a grind and it’s going to be a fight.”
Auburn’s starting pitching rotation of Jake Marciano, Jackson Sanders and Alex Petrovic continued to dominate once again, as the three Tigers combined to pitch 21.2 of the 28 innings, each going at least 7.0 innings in their first career SEC starts. The trio turned in a 0.83 ERA, allowing two runs on nine hits with five walks and 23 strikeouts.
Overall, Auburn’s performance – both on the mound and out of the bullpen – has been elite, allowing just eight runs in 60 innings across the past seven games.
Marciano set the pace throughout the opening seven frames on Friday, allowing just two Missouri hits and recording seven strikeouts in seven scoreless innings pitched. The sophomore only recorded 82 pitches, meaning he likely could’ve posted a complete game, but a lighting delay that lasted over an hour and a half ended his night early.
Junior reliever Garrett Brewer took over following the delay, recording three strikeouts and allowing two hits en route to the 2-0 victory for his team-best third save of the year.
After being held at bay through the first two-thirds of the game, Auburn’s only offensive highlight came in the top of the eighth inning when Bub Terrell blasted a two-run home run to right field to score the only runs between both squads. He drove in Chase Fralick on the homer, who drew a walk a couple of batters prior.
Due to projected inclement weather on Sunday, Auburn and Missouri played both the second and third games on Saturday, and Auburn emerged victorious in both.
Sanders posted yet another dominant outing on the mound for the orange and blue Tigers, picking up right where he left off last weekend vs. Winthrop, as he struck out the side on 13 pitches in the opening inning of his first career SEC start. The reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week notched eight strikeouts in seven innings of work, allowing just one earned run on three Missouri hits.
Auburn had trouble early with Missouri starter Josh McDevitt, who struck out a career-high 10 batters in 6.1 innings, but the Tigers still found a way to get on the board first in the fifth inning. A couple of miscues by Missouri led to a groundout to shortstop by Ethin Bingaman to score Brandon McCraine and make it 1-0 Tigers.
Auburn plated one in the seventh and one in the eighth, but junior reliever Drew Whalen struggled in the home half of the eighth frame. Ryan Hetzler took over for Whalen after the junior transfer appeared to have experienced an injury, and Hetzler gave up two RBI singles to allow Missouri to tie the game at 3-3 and send it to extras.
In the top of the 10th, a couple of singles by Chris Rembert and Fralick drove in the would-be winning run, and Hetzler went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame to claim the series win.
Similar to the first two games, Auburn’s starting pitching controlled the game from the opening pitch, as Petrovic delivered a strong 7 2/3 innings of work in game three of the weekend. Petrovic recorded eight strikeouts and only gave up one earned run before Jett Johnston took over in the eighth.
After struggling for the first 19 innings of action in Columbia, Auburn’s bats finally came alive in the top of the seventh inning, scoring seven runs off hits from, statistically, the worst hitters in its lineup. Lucas Steele, Todd Clay, and Cade Belyeu all found a gap, with Clay and Belyeu recording an RBI of their own.
The seven-run frame was headlined by a Bingaman bomb to left field, his third of the season, to drive in Fralick and Terrell and blow the game open, ultimately securing the sweep.
Looking ahead, the road for the Tigers gets much tougher, as Auburn will face two top-five squads at Plainsman Park next week. Auburn is slated to host No. 5 Georgia Tech on Tuesday before welcoming the No. 2 Texas Longhorns to town next weekend for its SEC home opener.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
Gunner is a sophomore majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in the fall 2024.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @norene_gunner10
