AUBURN | Auburn earned the win and Butch Thompson and his staff got a great opportunity to evaluate most of his team against outside competition.

On a sunny fall Saturday at Plainsman Park, Auburn beat Clemson 11-7 in a 12-inning exhibition game. AU used 21 position players and 12 pitchers.

“I liked how many guys we could run into a ballgame and pitch, and I thought our base running and two-strike hitting was phenomenal the first half of the ballgame,” said Thompson.

“When you can play two guys all the way around the infield, you can play three catchers, you can play nine guys in the outfield and you can pitch 12 guys and you can be competitive in a practice setting against a team like Clemson, that’s a good day.”

Second baseman Cole Foster was one of the offensive standouts for AU going 2 of 4 with a double and four RBI.

“It’s awesome coming out to play against Clemson, beautiful weather. Can’t have a better group of guys and it’s great to compete against another team other than ourselves,” said Foster.

Shortstop Brody Moore was 3 of 4 with two runs scored and two RBI, and designated hitter Cam Hill 2 of 4 with one RBI. Both Bryson Ware and Cooper Self hit solo home runs off the bench.

“Cole had a great day,” said Thompson. “We executed a couple of bunts and the base running was good. All in all as an offense, we saw the ball well. Cooper Self got his first home run at Auburn. That’s huge for him there in the 12th. Bryson Ware has hit a couple in the last couple of weeks so it’d be nice to see him get going.”

Senior Carson Skipper got the start for AU and didn’t allow a hit in 2.0 innings with two strikeouts. Hayden Mullins, Mason Barnett, Parker Carlson, Ben Bosse, Chase Allsup and Blake Burkhalter all threw scoreless innings.

“Mason Barnett has been really trying to grow and evolve this fall and has made some adjustments. That was a really nice, clean inning he had,” said Thompson. “My bright spot today would be these freshmen — Carlson, Bosse, Allsup — running their 3.0 innings consecutively at the back of the game and getting some swing and miss.

“I think the freshmen are exciting and Burkhalter was really clean in the 12th. He’s done that for us and is kind of the leader in the clubhouse of having a pitcher that can get the last three most crucial outs of a ballgame.”

Auburn’s fall practice will conclude next week with the intrasquad World Series Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.