No. 6 Auburn baseball advanced to the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament with a 3-1 win over LSU on Wednesday night, led by a strong pitching performance.
After taking down the reigning College World Series champions, Auburn is now set to take on No. 3 seed Texas A&M on Friday in hopes of making its first SEC Tournament semifinal appearance since 2017.
It was yet another dominant performance for Auburn starter Jake Marciano, who tossed six innings of one-run ball for the squad, allowing just four hits and striking out four batters. LSU starter Casan Evans had an impressive performance of his own, however, striking out eight Auburn batters while surrendering just one earned run in 4.2 innings on the bump.
Auburn starter-turned-reliever Jackson Sanders relieved Marciano to begin the seventh inning. Despite running into control issues late, the sophomore tossed three no-hit innings while striking out two LSU batters to secure the two-run victory.
The lack of bullpen use in Wednesday’s game could play a huge factor in the remainder of the tournament, as Auburn is likely to have a fresh, ready-to-go bullpen for its upcoming matchup against the Aggies on Friday.
Auburn’s offense took some time to heat back up after four straight off days. After being held scoreless and falling behind 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, Auburn sophomore catcher Chase Fralick tied the game by pushing a solo home run over the head of former Auburn player Chris Stanfield in left field.
After a clean 1-2-3 fifth inning from Marciano, Auburn ran into some good fortune in the bottom half of the inning. After a single and a walk from brothers Brandon and Mason McCraine, respectively, Auburn failed to move the runners over, striking out in its next two at-bats.
With two outs and the go-ahead run at second, All-SEC First Team member Chris Rembert poked a high chopper over the pitcher’s mound, resulting in an easy infield hit. LSU attempted to throw out Brandon McCraine after he took a wide turn at third base, but a throwing error allowed McCraine to score, putting Auburn up 2-1 in the game.
The following inning, Auburn junior third baseman Eric Guevara blasted a towering solo home run over the left-field wall to provide the Tigers with a much-needed insurance run. It was smooth sailing for the Tigers from that point on until the top of the ninth inning.
After back-to-back strikeouts turned into walks thanks to ABS challenges from the purple-and-gold Tigers, LSU brought the go-ahead run to the plate against the lefty Sanders. The sophomore forced a groundout to shortstop to bring a large Auburn crowd in Hoover, Alabama, to its feet as Auburn secured victory in the hard-fought pitchers' duel.
Set to take on No. 3 seed Texas A&M on Friday, Auburn will be looking to replicate its success from the regular-season series against the Aggies, in which the Tigers took two of three games in College Station, Texas.
First pitch Friday night is set for 6:30 p.m. CDT on SEC Network.
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Jonathan is a freshman majoring in industrial and systems engineering. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2025.
