Tag: Mike Bello

Mike Bello will be transferring to an in-state school

Bello hit .229 with 30 hits and 15 RBI in two seasons on the Plains.

Auburn outfielder [autotag]Mike Bello[/autotag] has announced that he will be transferring from Auburn and joining the Troy Trojans.

Bello announced his transfer destination on Twitter Monday.

The Oak Ridge, New Jersey native saw a lot more playing time in 2022 than he did in 2023. In 2022 Bello played in 43 games and started 27 opposed to playing in 16 games and starting five in 2023.

During his two seasons with the program, Bello slashed .229/.316/.282 with 30 hits and 15 RBI. His career fielding percentage with the Tigers was .981.

Bello’s biggest game of the 2023 season came against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on March 14th when he went 2-4 with one RBI. He ended the season with five hits and three RBI while recording an average of .156 in 16 appearances.

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Auburn baseball ‘responds’ with come-from-behind win at Jax State

Cole Foster led the Tigers offensively with four hits in Auburn’s first true road win of the year.

For the second straight day, Auburn got into a tight defensive battle with an in-state foe. However, what made Wednesday’s game at Jax State different from Tuesday’s win over UAB on Tuesday was that Auburn needed to come from behind to get the win.

Trailing 1-0 heading to the 7th inning, a trio of hits from the top half of Auburn’s lineup made way for four runs to score. Two more insurance runs in the 9th inning would be enough to escape Jacksonville with a 6-3 win at Rudy Abbott Field.

“We responded. I thought that was the difference there in the ballgame,” head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] said following Wednesday’s game. “It’s neat to play some of these closer games and having to come from behind. Some teams can only win one way. I think we’re at least learning or gaining a little confidence that we can win more than one way.”

Both teams were held scoreless through the first five innings before Jax State broke open the tie by posting a run in their half of the 6th inning. The Gamecocks led off the inning with a base runner due to an error by Tiger shortstop Cole Foster. That run scored two at-bats later on a right-field double by Mason Maners to put Jax State up, 1-0.

Auburn responded by delivering a punch in the form of a four-run top of the 7th inning with two outs. Foster tied the game on a single to left field to score [autotag]Caden Green[/autotag] from third base. [autotag]Justin Kirby[/autotag] would give Auburn the lead on a ground-rule double that scored [autotag]Mike Bello[/autotag]. Finally, [autotag]Ike Irish[/autotag] gave the Tigers added insurance on a two-run double to left field that scored Kirby and Foster to give Auburn the 4-1 lead.

Auburn added two more runs in the top of the 9th inning when [autotag]Chris Stanfield[/autotag] plated two on a single to left field to extend Auburn’s lead to 6-1. Those two runs would be considered the game’s most important for Auburn, as the Gamecocks fired back by scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth to cut Auburn’s lead to 6-3.

It would be the second night in a row that Auburn allowed their opponent to bring the tying run to the plate, but [autotag]Will Cannon[/autotag] struck out Maners to close the game.

Three Tigers recorded multiple hits in the game, with Foster leading the way with a 4-for-4 night. Freshmen Stanfield and Irish each had two hits and two RBI. Starting pitcher [autotag]Konnor Copeland[/autotag] pitched five innings of two-hit baseball, striking out six batters. [autotag]Chase Isbell[/autotag] earned the win by allowing one hit in 1.0 innings of work, making way for Cannon to earn his third save of the season.

Auburn will welcome Southeastern Louisiana to Plainsman Park to begin a three-game series with the Lions on Friday at 6 p.m. CT. Southeastern is currently 9-4, and most recently won a midweek contest at Alabama A&M, 14-0 on Wednesday.

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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.

The SEC has added five new rules for baseball. What are they?

Here’s a rundown of every new rule that the SEC has implemented ahead of the 2023 season.

The Auburn Tigers begin the 2023 campaign by hosting Indiana for a three-game series at Plainsman Park beginning Friday, Feb. 16 at 4 p.m. CT.

There is plenty to be excited about, as the Tigers return several key bats such as [autotag]Kason Howell[/autotag], [autotag]Mike Bello[/autotag], and [autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag], and a fresh pitching rotation that will surely make their presence felt throughout the season.

Ahead of the season opener, there are a few new rules and guidelines that the Southeastern Conference has implemented in an effort to speed up play, as well as make the game a smoother experience for both teams.

Several new rules including time between pitchers and batters have been added. Also, an improved “getaway day” rule and a run-rule have also gone into effect.

Get caught up to speed by checking out the new rules that have been added ahead of the 2023 SEC Baseball season.

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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The foundation to Auburn Baseball’s success is consistency

After a disappointing season in 2021, Auburn Baseball is back on track to continue the successes of the 2018 and 2019 teams.

The Auburn Tigers are the hottest team in college baseball. The Tigers swept the competition at last weekend’s Auburn Regional, outscoring their opponents 51-17 in the process.

Auburn dominated the regional in all three aspects. At the plate, Auburn hit 13 long balls, which included a three-home run game by [autotag]Cole Foster[/autotag] in Friday’s regional opener against Southeastern Louisiana. The confidence at the plate translated to the field, as Auburn only committed one error on the weekend. Pitching was also dominant, as the starting pitcher in two of the three games struck out ten batters a piece.

Some teams catch wind and have luck at certain points through the year. For Auburn, they are starting to see their consistent play throughout the season payoff.

Head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] was quoted as saying “National Championship or bust” following last weekend’s regional win. He says that the team’s consistency has given him trust, as well as the confidence, to make that claim as they head to Oregon State to face the Beavers in this weekend’s Super Regional.

“We got to a certain point in the season where I said I trust this ball club,” said Thompson prior to the team’s departure for Corvallis, Oregon on Thursday. “This is a ball club of consistency. We have never lost more than two games (in a row) over the season. I don’t know if I have had that in my 30 years of coaching, so there’s a model consistency. I have had trust, and now I believe in them.”

The constant play of this team is the product of a solid build up. Prior to the 2020 season that was abruptly ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Auburn had developed into one of the nation’s best programs.

In 2018. Auburn won the Raleigh Regional in similar fashion to last weekend’s Auburn Regional, and appeared in their first Super Regional since 1999 before falling to SEC foe Florida.

Auburn built off that success in 2019 by appearing in their second-straight Super Regional. The Tigers went on to take two-of-three from North Carolina on the road, and went on to make their first appearance in the College World Series since 1997.

After a season of struggles in 2021, Auburn seems to have found their way back on track to getting to the ultimate goal of being national champion. The player’s energy has rubbed off on Thompson.

 “I feel the chip on their shoulder,” says Thompson. “For those guys to come back last season, a lot of people were like “they are done, they are no good”, and for them to trigger back in, I started feeling it last year.” 

Auburn will spend Friday practicing and adjusting to the climate that the state of Oregon presents, then will lock in and begin the Super Regionals late Saturday night against Oregon State. First pitch between the Tigers and Beavers is set for 9 p.m. CDT.

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