AUBURN | Good pitching by Auburn's bullpen and a clutch hit by Ike Irish helped the Tigers overcome Troy, 7-6, on Tuesday evening in Plainsman Park.
Tied at six heading to the bottom of the ninth, Bub Terrell singled to center and advanced all the way to third on an error by Trojans' centerfield Sean Meier. After Troy elected to walk Bristol Carter and Cade Belyeu intentionally, Irish came through with the winning hit to center for the walk-off victory.
"I think big credit to Bub, if he doesn't leg it out, we're not in that situation, so he gets the third," Irish said. "In my head I was like, 'They're going to walk Bristol.' I didn't think they walked Cade though, but I think some things are, we're supposed to make the game personal and there was no extra needed motivation tonight for making it personal with who we were playing."
Auburn got on the board in the first as Cade Belyeu scored on an error from third. A three-run homer over the right-field wall by Deric Fabian made it 4-0.
The Trojans answered back in the top of the second, scoring five runs started by an RBI double to left-center by Shane Lewis. After Myers recorded an out, Mike Bello singled in Sean Darnell and Lewis scored on an error. A Bryan Brooks' single plated Bello to make it 5-4 Trojans.
Troy added a run in the third, with Bello singling in Steven Meier.
The Tigers threatened in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases with two outs before Cade Belyeu struck out on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning. Auburn added in a run in the bottom of the fifth, with Ike Irish earning a walk to start the inning, advancing to second on a wild pitch and third on a groundout by Cooper McMurray before a sacrifice fly by Lucas Steele scored him.
An RBI groundout from Bub Terrell scored Eric Snow in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game.
Starting for Auburn, Carson Myers lasted just 1 2/3 innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits while fanning one and walking one. Jackson Sanders followed in relief, giving up one earned run on two hits and a walk while striking out one over 2 1/3 innings. Cam Tilly entered to start the fifth and was solid, striking out seven straight and allowing no runs in three frames.
Jett Johnston earned the victory for Auburn, throwing two scoreless innings with four strikeouts. As a two-way player, it was the Knoxville, Tenn., native first time on the mound for the Tigers. He didn't disappoint.
"Credit to all of my teammates," Johnston said. "I got the ball in the last two innings, but we wouldn't have been in that situation. I wouldn't have gotten the ball if all the guys before me hadn't done their job and set me up. Right. So great team win, back at it again tomorrow."
