After getting swept in its last series against Texas A&M, Auburn baseball looked to bounce back in SEC play, returning home to begin a three-game series with the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers on Friday.
Game one at Plainsman Park proved to be a great start in that effort, as the Tigers put on a phenomenal offensive showing in the first couple of innings to defeat Tennessee, 9-5.
Worries set in early in the top of the 1st, though. Christian Moore led the game off with a double for the Volunteers. After he advanced to third on a wild pitch, Blake Burke hit a double of his own to score Moore, giving Tony Vitello’s squad a 1-0 lead.
Kavares Tears came up later in the inning to continue the fun, smashing a two-run home run to give Tennessee an early 3-0 lead, something Auburn did not need to see.
However, after two outs in the bottom of the 1st, [autotag]Ike Irish[/autotag] got a hold of a pitch and sent it over the wall for a solo blast, cutting the score to 3-1.
Back-to-back singles by [autotag]Cooper McMurray[/autotag] and [autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag] set [autotag]Christian Hall[/autotag] up to hit a single of his own, scoring McMurray.
The fun was not finished there. [autotag]Cade Belyeu[/autotag] joined the party with a three-run home run, turning what was a three-run deficit into a 5-3 lead for the Tigers.
That lead would not last for long, though, as in the top of the 2nd, Moore came back to the plate for the Volunteers after a single by Cal Stark and hit a two-run home run over the center field fence. The game was once again tied, this time at 5-5.
After a leadoff strikeout to begin the bottom of the 2nd, [autotag]Mason Maners[/autotag] doubled to right field before [autotag]Cooper Weiss[/autotag] singled on a bunt to the third base side. This led to a single by Irish that brought in Maners, giving the lead back to Auburn.
After a McMurray walk to load the bases, Peirce reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Weiss. Hall came up immediately after a singled through the left side, scoring Irish and giving the Tigers an 8-5 advantage.
Nobody scored again until the bottom of the 6th. With runners on the corners and one out, McMurray hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored the ninth run of the game for Auburn, making it 9-5 and ending the scoring overall.
The Tigers closed out Tennessee without any scoring threats being made to secure the game one victory.
[autotag]Carson Myers[/autotag] got the win in relief for Auburn, improving to 2-2 on the season. He pitched 3.2 innings on the mound, giving up no runs on three hits, striking out four and walking three.
AJ Causey picked up the loss for the Volunteers, dropping to 5-2 on the year. He only pitched 1.1 innings, giving up eight runs on eights hits. He struck out four hitters as well.
The Tigers will take the field for game two on Saturday with the hopes of winning their first conference series of the year. First pitch for that contest is set for 3:30 p.m. CST and will be broadcast on SEC Network+.