Auburn’s bats deliver late in game two to earn the victory

If the first two games were any indication, game 3 is going to be wild.

After a disappointing start to the series against the No. 1 ranked Tennessee Volunteers, the Tigers looked to turn things around in game two.

The Tigers would send out starting pitcher Trace Bright (2-4) while the Volunteers sent out Blade Tidwell (1-0). In the bottom half of the first inning, the Vols scraped across one run. Center-fielder Drew Gilbert hit a single to score right-fielder Jordan Beck. After one inning in Knoxville, the Vols led 1-0.

Both teams would go scoreless in the second inning, but the scoring picked back up in the third inning. In the top half of the inning, third baseman Blake Rambusch walked to lead off the inning. Several batters later, the Texas native scored off of a wild pitch. In the bottom half of the inning, Tony Vitello’s squad added another run. A groundout from Beck brought across shortstop Cortland Lawson. At the end of three, the home team led 2-1.

In the fifth inning, the Plainsmen put up a three-spot. Center-fielder Kason Howell singled to score Rambusch. A batter later and first baseman Sonny DiChiara hit a two-run home run to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead.

In the bottom half of the sixth inning, Tennessee tied things up. Both of the runs that the No. 1 Volunteers scored came via wild pitches. First, Bright threw a wild pitch that allowed Beck to score. After that, the Tigers brought in right-handed relief pitcher Chase Allsup. He threw a wild pitch as well that brought across third baseman Trey Lipscomb. Things were tied up 4-4 in Rocky Top country at the end of sixth.

In the bottom half of the seventh inning, Gilbert hit a single to bring across Lawson. The No. 1 ranked Tennessee Volunteers led 5-4 heading into the eighth inning. After both teams went scoreless in the eight, the team in orange and blue would have one last chance to do some damage. They would have to do it against left-handed relief pitcher Redmond Walsh.

When the ninth inning began, Butch Thompson’s squad began to fight back. After catcher Nate LaRue hit a single to lead off the inning, he was pinch ran for by Bryson Ware. Three batters later and it was the center-fielder Kason Howell who came up huge with a double to tie things up. After Vitello elected to walk DiChiara, right-fielder Bobby Peirce came up to the plate. He would deliver in the clutch.

Peirce hit a three-run home run to give the Tigers an 8-5 lead. Things got heated soon after as a bat-flip set off the Vols head coach Tony Vitello. He would throw Peirce’s bat into the air and in the direction of the Auburn bench. The game quickly got chippy some of the coaching staff and players for both sides cleared the bench. Both teams kept everything under control, however.

In the bottom half of the ninth inning, Lawson would hit a home run to center field. However, their offense couldn’t scratch across any additional runs as the Tigers won game two by a score of 8-6. The loss drops Tennessee to 39-4 and 18-2 in the conference. Meanwhile, Auburn improved to 31-13 and 12-8 in the conference.

With drama stirring late in game two, I would expect that chippiness to carry over into the series finale. Both teams are looking to capture the win in order to win the series. It is worthy to note that Tennessee has yet to lose a series against any team in the SEC. Auburn would be the first if they could win on Sunday.

The first pitch for game three is set for 12 CT on Sunday. The game will be aired on SEC Network +.

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