Tag: Cooper McMurray

Auburn holds off the ninth inning push by Alabama in game one victory

6.2 innings of scoreless baseball from Tommy Vail and home runs by Chris Stanfield and Cole Foster lift Auburn to a series-opening win.

The Auburn Tigers (20-13-1, 5-8 SEC) picked up an 8-4 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide (24-11, 4-9 SEC) in the first game of the series Friday night at Sewell Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

“We needed somebody to step up,” Auburn head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] said following Friday’s win. “It was his best outing. It was clean, it was efficient, it was great baseball. We needed this one on the road and Tommy absolutely silenced a very good lineup.”

[autotag]Tommy Vail[/autotag] got the start for the Tigers and let no runs score and only allowed two hits in a 6.2-inning effort that also saw four strikeouts and only four walks.

“It felt good to get the weekend off to a good start,” Vail said. “It’s my job to go as deep as I can and save the bullpen so we have more bullets to fire later on. It felt good to throw up zeros and know the guys behind me were playing their tails off.”

Luke Holman got the start for the Crimson Tide and allowed four runs off of four hits, walked three batters and struck out six.

[autotag]Chris Stanfield[/autotag] got the scoring started with a two-run homer in the second inning. [autotag]Caden Green[/autotag] singled home two more runs in the seventh inning.

[autotag]Cooper McMurray [/autotag] singled to bring another run in during the eighth inning. The Tigers tacked on their last three runs in the ninth inning when Green reached on an error that allowed Stanfield to score from second and when [autotag]Cole Foster[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to extend the lead to 8-0.

“Throughout the night my at-bats got better and I happened to hit a hanging changeup and did what I could with it,” Foster said.

The Crimson Tide scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, three of which were forced in by walks or batters being hit by pitches.

The first pitch for the second game of the series is set for Saturday at 6:00 p.m. CST.

RELATED: How to watch this weekend’s series between Auburn and Alabama

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Auburn’s bullpen collapses in decisive game three vs. No. 3 Florida

Auburn surrendered 14 unanswered runs.

Auburn looked like it was going to pull off a massive upset over the No. 3 Florida Gators before the bullpen collapsed on the second straight Sunday. The Tigers had an 8-3 lead but the Gators scored 14 unanswered runs to take control of the game and win 17-8 in Gainesville.

Six Auburn pitchers combined to allow 17 runs on just 12 hits, but they walked 13 batters and hit three more. Auburn is now 18-9-1 overall and 3-6 in SEC play.

“We got right where we wanted to,” head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] said. “We built that 8-3 lead and when I saw them run and catch us, just so many freebies to allow them to get back in the ballgame there.”

After allowing three runs in the first inning, Auburn starter [autotag]Tommy Vail[/autotag] was able to settle in and give the Tigers 4.2 innings. He allowed five runs, four earned on just two hits. He struck out six Gators but walked five and hit two more.

He left in the bottom of the fifth with two on and two out and Auburn leading 8-3. Thompson turned to [autotag]Chase Allsup[/autotag] to try and end the threat. He was unable to get an out as he walked the first batter, gave up a two-run single, and walked two more before [autotag]Chase Isbell[/autotag] came in to end the inning.

Disaster struck Ibell in the sixth inning as he was forced to call for a trainer and leave the game. That forced [autotag]Drew Nelson[/autotag] into the game.

He walked the first three batters he saw to make it an 8-7 Auburn lead before a sacrifice fly tied the game. He managed to escape the inning with the game tied but was unable to do so in the seventh. He hit the leadoff man and after a Wyatt Langford double put two men in scoring position Auburn once again went to the bullpen.

Jac Caglianome greeted [autotag]Konner Copeland[/autotag] with a two-RBI single to give Florida a 10-8 lead that they would not surrender. The Gators added two more runs in the seventh and five in the eighth to put the game out of reach.

The Tigers fell behind 3-0 after one inning but immediately started chipping away. [autotag]Cooper McMurray[/autotag] blasted a solo home run in the second inning and the Tigers took a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning when [autotag]Caden Green[/autotag] hit a two-run homer and [autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch.

They got some breathing room in the fifth when Peirce drove in Green and [autotag]Bryson Ware[/autotag] smacked a three-run homer to make it an 8-3 lead.

The Tigers will return to action Tuesday night when they take on UAB at Regions Field in Birmingham. The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. CT.

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‘It is not supposed to look this easy.’ Ike Irish fuels Auburn baseball’s hot start

Freshman Ike Irish is wise beyond his years, and he is proving it at the plate.

Auburn baseball entered the season unranked in four of the six major polls due to what is believed to be a lack of experience in several areas.

Two weeks into the season, the Tigers appear to be in a strong position to have another strong season. Freshman Ike Irish is one of the main reasons why.

Irish, a true freshman from Hudsonville, Michigan, was Auburn baseball’s top signee of the 2022 recruiting cycle as by being the No. 2 overall player from Michigan, and the No. 39 overall prospect. Through seven games, he has more than lived up to expectations.

He currently bats .586 with 17 hits and six RBI. The most eye-popping stat of the young season is that he has recorded a hit in every game, with all but one being a multi-hit affair. In Auburn’s most recent series against USC, Irish went 8-for-13 at the plate with two RBI. In addition to Auburn baseball fans, his early success at the plate is impressing his teammates.

“After his second hit in (Friday’s) game, I looked at somebody and said, ‘it is not supposed to look this easy,” Auburn sophomore [autotag]Cooper McMurray[/autotag] said following Auburn’s 12-6 win over USC on Saturday.

When asked about his assessment of the talented freshman, head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] cites his maturity not only in his actions but also in his physique and at-bat approach.

“A lot of times, guys come to school and it’s like ‘they need to grow, they need to fill out and get in the weight room to get a little stronger.’ Those boxes are already checked,” Thompson said of Irish. “He is physical, he’s confident, that’s another one that is sometimes not readily available with a first-year player. He has a couple of things there. I haven’t seen him give an at-bat away. He always seems interested. I’m pretty excited that he is on our team.” 

You can sense the “seasoned veteran” mindset of Irish in the way he speaks about the game as well. When it comes to his at-bat mentality, he says that he takes a very simple approach, and does not think too much about what needs to be done.

“I think that it is just (being) as simple as possible,” Irish said Saturday. “In the few at-bats that I’ve had this year, especially with the double I hit (on Saturday), I was just thinking ‘just see it up.’ It is small thoughts like that. I think hitting is all mental. So it is just being able to use my thoughts in a good, positive way, but keeping them short so that they don’t interfere with my body doing its’ job.”

His efforts in last week’s action earned him his second SEC Freshman of the Week award in as many weeks. In three wins over North Alabama and USC, Irish went 11-for-17 at the plate, recording multiple hits in every game, with three RBI. His quest for a three-peat begins Wednesday when Auburn faces Florida A&M at 6 p.m. CT.

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Photo Gallery: Auburn baseball handles USC to clinch series

Auburn broke a 3-3 tie with a five-run 6th inning to earn the series win over the Trojans on Saturday.

Auburn baseball faced adversity early in Saturday’s game against USC. Johnny Olmstead scored the Trojans’ first three runs of the game, one on a solo blast and two more on a couple of Auburn errors to give USC the 3-0 lead through three innings.

Auburn responded by tying the game in the 4th inning on three RBI singles by [autotag]Bryson Ware[/autotag], [autotag]Cooper McMurray[/autotag], and [autotag]Brody Moss[/autotag]. The Tigers then blew the game open in the 6th inning on three RBI singles and a fielders choice by [autotag]Mike Bello[/autotag] to put Auburn ahead, 8-3.

USC would gain some of those runs back in the 8th inning on a sacrifice fly by Carson Wells and a two-run double off of the left field wall by Adrian Colon-Rasado to trim the Tigers lead to 8-6. But, the trend continued in the bottom half of the inning when McMurray and Ware each hit two-run home runs to give Auburn the 12-6 win.

Auburn moves to 5-1 on the young season, and has clinched its’ second weekend series of the year. Here are the best images from Auburn Baseball’s 12-6 win over the Trojans on Saturday.

Auburn Baseball earns first fall win thanks to epic comeback

Auburn scored six runs in the final frame to defeat Louisiana Tech on Saturday at Plainsman Park

Fresh off of their second trip to the College World Series in three tries, Auburn Baseball is picking up where they left off.

The Tigers hosted Louisiana Tech for a fall exhibition game on Saturday and needed an epic comeback to finish off the Bulldogs. Newcomer [autotag]Brody Wortham[/autotag] hit the go-ahead home run in the 10th inning to cap the six-run comeback, which ultimately lifted Auburn to a 12-11 win.

The home run was the second hit of the day for Wortham, who doubled in two runs earlier in the inning to begin the comeback.

Pitching was key in overcoming the deficit as well. Auburn relievers [autotag]Tanner Bauman[/autotag], [autotag]John Armstrong[/autotag], [autotag]Tommy Vail[/autotag] and [autotag]Chase Isbell[/autotag] did not allow a single Bulldog to reach base over the final five frames. Vail struck out all three batters faced in his one inning of relief work.

Joining Wortham in collecting two hits on the day were [autotag]Ike Irish[/autotag], [autotag]Cooper McMurray[/autotag], [autotag]Cole Foster[/autotag], and [autotag]Gavin Miller[/autotag].

Auburn’s next fall exhibition game will take place on Friday, Oct. 18, when they welcome archrival Alabama, led by former [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] assistant Brad Bohannon, to Plainsman Park. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.

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