Much like in Friday’s series opener, one team had a great day at the plate while the other never really got it going.
In Friday’s opener, Auburn knocked off No. 3 Florida, 10-1, behind an 11-hit effort and a six-run 2nd inning. On Saturday, The Gators responded by posting 19 hits in a 12-5 victory to even the series.
All 10 Florida (23-5, 6-2 SEC) batters recorded a hit in Saturday’s win, with seven of those batters recording multiple hits. Starter Hurston Waldrop backed up his offense by striking out 10 batters and allowing four hits in 6.0 innings of work.
Auburn (18-8-1, 3-5 SEC) struck first on a groundout by [autotag]Ike Irish[/autotag] that scored [autotag]Cole Foster[/autotag] from 3rd base to put Auburn ahead, 1-0 in the top of the 1st inning. Florida answered in the bottom of the inning on a Jac Caglianone two-run blast to put them ahead, 2-1.
[autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag] would put the Tigers back in front with a two-run home run of his own in the top of the 3rd inning, but Florida scored five runs in the bottom half to take a 7-3 lead and grab control of the game.
The Tigers cut into Florida’s 8-3 lead in the top of the 7th inning when Foster and Peirce scored yet again on a single by [autotag]Bryson Ware[/autotag], but Florida scored four runs over the final two innings to earn the convincing win.
“All three times we scored tonight, not only did they score the very next half-inning, but they scored more than we scored in the top half,” head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] said after Saturday’s game. “They answered us every time we scored and created offense.”
Auburn continued to experiment with the weekend rotation by sending [autotag]John Armstrong[/autotag] to the mound for his first start of the season. He lasted 2.1 innings where he allowed seven hits, seven runs (four earned), and struck out one. [autotag]Christian Herberholz[/autotag] and [autotag]Zach Crotchfelt[/autotag] also provided 2.0 and 2.2 innings of relief respectively, with Herberholz allowing five hits and zero runs in his outing while striking out three batters.
[autotag]Parker Carlson[/autotag] ended the game for Auburn by throwing an inning of relief where he allowed two hits and an earned run.
Auburn’s offense recorded eight hits in the game, with Foster and Peirce leading the way with two hits each.
RELATED: How to watch/listen to Auburn baseball’s series at Florida
Game three of the series is set for Sunday at noon CT on SEC Network+. [autotag]Tommy Vail[/autotag] takes the mound for Auburn, and he will battle two-way star Jac Caglianone for the series win.
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