After suffering a three-game sweep to No. 3 Arkansas to open the SEC slate, Auburn needed to find confidence ahead of this weekend’s series with rival Georgia.
On Tuesday, they found it.
Auburn gained comfort by scoring five runs in the middle innings to help them hold off a comeback attempt by South Alabama and ultimately earn the 6-5 win over the Jaguars at Riverwalk Stadium in downtown Montgomery.
The Tigers and Jaguars battled to a scoreless tie through 2 1/2 innings before [autotag]Kason Howell[/autotag] put his squad on the board, 3-0, with a three-run blast to left field that scored [autotag]Carter Wright[/autotag] and [autotag]Brody Wortham[/autotag]. Howell would also contribute to his team’s lead again in the 4th inning on an RBI single.
“I’m kind of simplifying things and just trying to get a good pitch to hit, be on time and let the results take care of themself,” Howell said following Auburn’s win over South Alabama. “That’s really where I’m at right now and it’s working out. Hopefully, I can just be consistent with it and keep it going.”
Wright scored Auburn’s other run in the 4th inning on an RBI single that scored Justin Kirby to put the Tigers ahead, 4-0.
The game would then hit another lull before South Alabama’s Colson Lawrence hit his first of two home runs of the game in the top of the 7th inning. His first smack was a two-run blast that cut into Auburn’s lead, 5-2.
The Tigers got a run back in the bottom half of the inning when a foul out by [autotag]Cole Foster[/autotag] was deep enough to score Howell from third base, making the game, 6-2.
Auburn found themselves in trouble in the 8th inning, as the Jaguars attempted to take a late lead with two outs. Lawrence repeated his 7th-inning performance by hitting yet another two-run blast, and Cole Ketzner crushed a solo shot in the next at-bat to trim Auburn’s lead to 6-5.
[autotag]Chase Isbell[/autotag] was able to slam the door on South Alabama by sitting down the Jaguars in order to close the game and solidify the win.
Howell paced the Tigers with three hits and four RBI, while Kirby and Wright each recorded multiple hits. Starter [autotag]Drew Nelson[/autotag] got the win for Auburn by striking out two batters and allowing a hit in 4.0 innings of work. Isbell earned the save by tossing a perfect 9th inning.
Auburn improves to 14-6-1, and will now shift their focus to the Georgia Bulldogs, who come into town for a three-game series beginning Thursday night at 6 p.m. CT at Plainsman Park. The Bulldogs defeated Georgia State on Tuesday night, 8-3, behind a three-hit night by center fielder Ben Anderson.
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