The Tigers topped the Gators 8-5 after a thrilling late-inning surge, clinching their third-straight series victory.
Alex Petrovic took the mound for Auburn, carrying a 6-1 record and a 2.66 ERA into the contest. He wasn’t able to escape the first inning unharmed; after striking out his first batter of the day, he allowed a four-pitch walk and a single before Blake Cyr broke open the scoring for the Gators with a three-run home run. That ended up being the only blemish of his afternoon, however, as he went seven innings allowing just those three earned runs, striking out five and walking two on 98 pitches.
Florida starter Russell Sandefer took the mound for the Gators. He made quick work of Auburn’s lineup through four innings, allowing just one baserunner and carrying a no-hitter into the fifth against an Auburn lineup that struggled to put the ball in the air.
Bub Terrell put the Tigers on the board in the fifth inning, hitting a sacrifice fly deep enough to score Bingaman from third, who reached after an error, stolen base, and fielder’s choice. A batter later, Mason McCraine laced a single into right field—Auburn’s first base hit of the afternoon—to bring his brother, Brandon, home and make it 3-2 Florida.
Sandefer couldn’t complete the inning, marking an end to his afternoon after 4.2 innings of work, allowing a hit, two base on balls, and no earned runs on 89 pitches. He ceded the mound to Ernesto Lugo-Canchola, who pitched 1.2 innings of two-hit, scoreless ball in relief.
Leading off the eighth inning still down a run, Bub Terrell delivered in familiar fashion. He took a swing at a first-pitch breaking ball, blasting a solo home run to deep right field to tie the game at three.
The Tigers finally blew the score open in the top of the ninth. Eddie Madrigal got things started with a leadoff single to left field, and Ethin Bingaman reached on an error by the third baseman for the second time today. With two runners on and no outs, Lucas Steele was called on to bunt down the third base line—a decision that paid off as Florida pitcher Joshua Whritenour botched the throw to first, allowing pinch runner Cade Belyeu to score and give Auburn its first lead of the game.
The Tigers weren’t done, however, as Brandon McCraine smacked a double down the right field line to score Steele and Bingaman, stretching Auburn’s lead to three. After a pitching change from Whritenor to Ricky Reeth, Mason McCraine launched a two-run homer to right center, his third long ball of the series, to score his brother and put Auburn up 8-3. Reeth struggled through more batters, walking Chase Fralick and allowing a Chris Rembert single before being replaced by Caden McDonald, but the Tigers couldn’t bring any more runs across.
Having thrown an efficient seven-pitch eighth inning, closer Ryan Hetzler retired the first two batters of the ninth in four pitches, but gave up a single to Karson Bowen before Blake Cyr blasted his second home run of the game, a two-run shot to put the Gators back within reach. Landon Stripling lined out to Eddie Madrigal at first base in the next at-bat, ending the game and sealing the series for Auburn.
Now past the halfway point of conference play and riding back-to-back-to-back series wins, Auburn looks ahead to a midweek contest against Samford in Hoover, Alabama before returning home to Plainsman Park for a weekend series against No. 14 Oklahoma.
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