Tag: Bobby Peirce

Season Preview: Auburn Baseball’s top returning hitters from 2022 season

Here’s a look at the top sluggers that return from Auburn Baseball’s 2022 College World Series roster.

The Auburn Tigers are set to open the 2023 season on Friday, Feb. 17 against Indiana at Plainsman Park. While we count down the days, here’s a brief look at what to expect this season.

The first chapter of Auburn Wire’s baseball season previews will take a look at Auburn’s returning hitters from last season’s College World Series roster.

Auburn returns plenty of contributors to last season’s lineup and will see a lot of new faces at the plate as well. However, the caliber of bats that have since moved on to the professional ranks leaves a few questions for Auburn to answer.

The biggest void on this season’s roster is [autotag]Sonny DiChiara[/autotag], who was drafted 148th overall by the Los Angeles Angels and was immediately delegated to Double-A Rocket City. In his lone season on the Plains, DiChiara smashed 22 home runs and was responsible for 59 RBI.

Auburn will also be without [autotag]Blake Rambusch[/autotag], [autotag]Brooks Carlson[/autotag], and [autotag]Brody Moore[/autotag], who finished the season in the top-five of batting average last season behind DiChiara.

There are some familiar faces, however, who will return to the Auburn lineup this season including [autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag], [autotag]Cam Hill[/autotag], [autotag]Cole Foster[/autotag], and [autotag]Kason Howell[/autotag], who all hit over .250 last season.

Here’s a look at the top returning bats to Auburn’s roster ahead of the 2023 season, based on last season’s batting average.

Auburn drops game to Arkansas, ending season in College World Series

A magical run came to a heartbreaking ending in Omaha on Tuesday night.

The Southeastern Conference’s “surprise team” from the 2022 season wrote their final chapter on Tuesday night at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.

Auburn, who had just won their first game in the College World Series since 1997 a day prior, could not overcome the experience of fellow SEC squad, Arkansas on Tuesday, dropping the game 11-1, thus closing the book on a magical run.

“It was a great experience for every one of us. We found a ton of positives out of this season,” said head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] following the game. “Our people stepped up to the plate for this team before we ever played a game and I’ll never forget that. I thought we returned the favor at the end of the postseason.”

Arkansas jumped ahead early in the first inning on two quick hits. Braydon Webb would lead off the game by reaching base on a double to left center field, then would score one at-bat later on a single by Peyton Stovall, giving the Razorbacks the 1-0 lead. After a meeting with pitching coach [autotag]Tim Hudson[/autotag], Auburn starting pitcher [autotag]Mason Barnett[/autotag] would sit down the next three batters in order, earning two strikeouts.

Auburn kept Arkansas off of the scoreboard in the 2nd inning, but the Razorbacks would catch wind again over the next two innings. Arkansas scored seven runs over the 3rd and 4th innings to gain control of the game with an 8-0 lead. The Razorbacks scored a run in the 6th, and two more in the 9th to cap scoring.

Auburn’s lone run came in the 7th inning, when [autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag] led off the inning with a line drive home run off of the left field foul pole.

Despite ending the season with a lop-sided loss, Auburn Baseball defied the odds that were given to them during the preseason. The Tigers went from being picked to finish 7th in the SEC West, to ending the season as one of the final five teams left standing at the College World Series.

Head coach Butch Thompson feels that the foundation has been laid, and he expects to see this program continue to grow.

“You can look at pen to paper from the time we’ve been here to this second and see some growth,” said Thompson. “I absolutely think we are on the cusp of doing amazing things consistently. That’ll be the driving force, trying to leave this program in a better place.”

Auburn ends the 2022 season with a 43-22 record. Some of the accomplishments that the Tigers were able to claim this season include posting a winning record in the SEC, hosting an NCAA regional for the first time since 2010, win a regional at home for the first time since 1999, winning the Corvallis Super Regional to set up their second trip to Omaha in three NCAA Tournaments, and winning a College World Series game for the first time in 25 years.

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PHOTO GALLERY: Auburn outlasts Stanford to advance in College World Series

Relive Auburn’s 6-2 win over Stanford on Monday afternoon with the gallery below:

Despite the temperature reaching the high-90s in Omaha, Nebraska on Monday afternoon, the Auburn bats needed a little time to heat up.

But when they finally got going, it was hard to slow down the Tiger offense.

Down 2-0 heading to the sixth inning, Auburn broke through to score six runs on six hits to defeat Stanford, 6-2 to advance in the College World Series, earning their first win in Omaha since 1997.

[autotag]Cole Foster[/autotag] helped Auburn take the lead on a three-run double in the sixth inning, which complimented a bases-loaded walk to [autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag] just two at-bats prior.

In the 7th, [autotag]Brody Moore[/autotag] scored [autotag]Bryson Ware[/autotag] on a sacrifice fly, and Peirce earned his 2nd RBI of the game on a double to score [autotag]Blake Rambusch[/autotag], extending the Tiger lead.

Auburn will now await the winner of Ole Miss-Arkansas. The game will be played on Tuesday at 5 p.m. CDT, and can be seen on ESPN.

Tiger stay afloat with victory over Stanford Cardinal

The Tigers live to play another game.

They certainly had to fight for it, but the Auburn Tigers will get the chance to continue fighting in the College World Series.

Auburn knocked off the Stanford Cardinal 6-2 on Monday to continue its CWS bid into at least Tuesday. The Tigers are operating in danger with a loss already in the double-elimination tournament, and they’ll have to play one of either Arkansas or Ole Miss in their next game.

For the first five innings, it was all Cardinal.

Stanford drove in a run in the first inning when junior Brett Barrera hit a double to center field, allowing outfielder Brock Jones to score. The next run from the Cardinal came in the top of the second when infielder Adam Crampton hit a double down the line to bring sophomore Tommy Troy in.

It seemed as if Auburn’s bats were invisible for most of the game, but its defense kept the score at 2-0 until the top of the sixth — it was time for the Tigers to do some damage.

Auburn only needed one inning to take the lead, scoring four runs to go up 4-2. A [autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag] walk with bases loaded sent freshman [autotag]Mike Bello[/autotag] home to kick off proceedings, and a double from infielder [autotag]Cole Foster[/autotag] sent the three remaining runners to the plate. Auburn would tack on two more in the top of the seventh on RBIs from Peirce and senior [autotag]Brody Moore[/autotag]. The score would remain that way for the rest of the game and the Tigers would send the Cardinal packing as they stay alive in the CWS.

It’s likely Auburn will be hoping to play Arkansas on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT, as the other possible opponent, Ole Miss, has already defeated the Tigers in this tournament.

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Auburn baseball drops first game of series to Rebels

It wasn’t the start Auburn wanted, but the Tigers have a chance for redemption on Monday.

The Auburn Tigers were hoping for a better start to their College World Series bid, but an SEC rival wasn’t going to let those hopes turn to reality.

The Ole Miss Rebels rolled over Auburn 5-1 on Saturday night, handing the Tigers a loss to start the tournament. The tournament operates on a double-elimination format, so the Tigers will have a chance to stay afloat against the Stanford Cardinal on Monday.

Ole Miss wasted no time putting runs on the board, scoring twice in the first inning from two RBIs off a hit by outfielder Kemp Alderman. They scored again in the third inning when senior Kevin Graham hit a solo shot to left field to make it 3-0 Rebels.

The Tigers were unable to get the bats going all game, but they were able to stave off the Ole Miss attack until the top of the sixth inning, when Alderman advanced home on a double play and sophomore T.J. McCants knocked in an RBI to make it 5-0. That would be the last of Ole Miss’ scoring run, and Auburn couldn’t make up the deficit to bring it back.

The Tigers’ only run came in the bottom of the seventh, when a Bobby Peirce single brought fifth-year senior Garrett Farquhar home.

It’s do or die for Auburn on Monday at 1 p.m. CT when they play a Stanford team that lost to Arkansas by 15 runs.

PHOTO GALLERY: Auburn drops game 2 to Oregon State

Here are the best images from game two of the Corvallis Super Regional between Auburn and Oregon State

Auburn will have to wait one more day for the chance to punch their ticket to Omaha, as they dropped game two of the Corvallis Super Regional to Oregon State on Sunday, 4-3.

Auburn could not quite get the bats going as they were only able to muster three total hits against Golden Spikes Award finalist Cooper Hjerpe, and grabbed just two more off of relief pitcher Ben Ferrer. While there were few, Auburn was able to take advantage of mistakes by the Beavers’ pitching staff, as they scored two of their three runs on wild pitches.

While you wait for game three between Auburn and Oregon State, take a look at the best images from game two.

Auburn baseball rallies in full-game comeback to take second Alabama game

Auburn took six innings to complete a four-run comeback and beat the Tide in game two of its rivalry series.

Baseball legend Yogi Berra put it best — it ain’t over ’till it’s over.

The Auburn Tigers lived that creed on Saturday when they came back from a four-run deficit in the first inning to defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide 6-4 in their second victory of the rivalry series. Auburn now has an opportunity to sweep the series when they play the Tide again on Sunday.

Alabama wasted no time kicking off proceedings. Tide catcher Dominic Tamez hit a blistering ground ball to left field to knock in an RBI in the top of the first, and with two men on, outfielder William Hamiter blasted a ball over the right-center fence to put Alabama up 4-0.

That would be the last run they scored.

Auburn managed to keep things stagnant until the bottom of the fourth when it began to chip away. Tigers outfielder [autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag] hit a solo shot to center field to cut the deficit down to three. The bottom of the fifth was kind to the Tigers, too — a grievous error on a routine throw to second by the Tide allowed infield player [autotag]Garrett Farquhar[/autotag] to score and infielder [autotag]Blake Rambusch[/autotag] subsequently knocked in an RBI single to cut the deficit down to one. Auburn got the run to tie in the bottom of the sixth when [autotag]Nate LaRue[/autotag] hit an RBI single as well.

It was Peirce, who kicked off the scoring for Auburn, that put them back ahead.

His RBI single brought the Tigers up 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh. He wasn’t done scoring, though — after an errant pitch, Peirce ran home from third and made it 6-4 Auburn, a score that would stand at the end of the game.

After the impressive comeback, the Tigers will look to complete the sweep on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT.

Tony Vitello discusses Auburn’s bat flip following Bobby Peirce’s home run

Tony Vitello discusses Auburn’s bat flip following Bobby Peirce’s home run in the ninth inning.

No. 1 Tennessee (39-4, 18-2 SEC) lost to No. 21 Auburn (31-13, 12-8 SEC), 8-6, Saturday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The game was tied 5-5 in the ninth inning when Bobby Peirce hit a three-run home run for Auburn.

Peirce flipped his bat after hitting the three-run home run. His bat rolled to Tennessee’s dugout. Vols’ head coach Tony Vitello picked up Peirce’s bat and tossed it in the direction of Auburn’s dugout.

Following the game, Vitello discussed the incident.

“The bat ended up in our dugout,” Vitello said. “If it was a true dugout, it would have went in the dugout, but instead it was resting on the net, so, I mean, someone’s got to get it.

“I grabbed it and threw it over there, and a lot of extra stuff happened after that, from our side and their side that maybe didn’t need to happen, but everybody’s trying to win. It’s the SEC.”

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Reaction to Auburn’s bat flip against Tennessee

A look at reaction to Auburn’s Bobby Peirce’s home run bat flip against Tennessee in game No. 2.

No. 1 Tennessee (39-4, 18-2 SEC) lost to No. 21 Auburn (31-13, 12-8 SEC), 8-6, Saturday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Tennessee was one out away from winning game No. 2. The game was then tied 5-5 in the ninth inning when Bobby Peirce hit a three-run home run for Auburn.

Peirce flipped his bat after hitting the three-run home run. His bat rolled to Tennessee’s dugout. Vols’ head coach Tony Vitello picked up Peirce’s bat and tossed it in the direction of Auburn’s dugout.

SEC baseball records and standings following April 30 contests

Tony Vitello recaps Tennessee’s game No. 2 loss to Auburn

Below is reaction to Peirce’s game-winning three-run home run and his bat flip.