AUBURN | Auburn won last weekend’s series against Holy Cross, taking Sunday’s rubber game 14-6, but Butch Thompson wasn’t celebrating afterwards.
The Tigers’ 10th-year head coach saw plenty of issues with his team that are a concern going forward.
“It’s probably my fault of trying to build them up because that’s what I like to do with young people in 32 years of coaching baseball, is build them up,” said Thompson. “I think it’s time to get real. There are some things we’re not able to do consistently right now.
“We’ve just got to stay after it. We’ve got to dig in and fight and see if we can come out and just be competitive.”
Auburn batted .291 and scored 20 runs in the series, but 11 of those runs and 12 of AU’s 30 hits came in the final 5.0 innings Sunday when Thompson said the Crusaders ran out of pitching.
On the mound, AU had a 3.00 ERA but walked 14 batters and had five wild pitches. Defensively, AU committed three errors, which led to two unearned runs.
“We’re not capable in games,” said Thompson. “I’m not seeing the best version of everybody. I want them to do their best and enjoy the game, and I just see pressure.
“We get to the ninth inning (Saturday) night and it’s a chance where it’s a good arm but not a dominating arm. It’s not like anything we won’t see in our league. And we get our 13th fly ball of the ballgame and then can’t put it in play. That’s not what great teams do.”
Auburn, 2-1, hosts Troy Tuesday night at 6 p.m. CT and North Alabama Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. Both games are on SECN+/ESPN+.
EARLY SETBACK: Starting third baseman Eric Guevara pulled up trying to leg out a sacrifice bunt and had to leave Sunday’s win over the Crusaders. “I was told hamstring with no deficit,” said Thompson. “Sometimes when those are certain levels or severe, they have a hole or a deficit that they can tell. But I would still anticipate 10 days, two weeks conservatively."
FRESHMAN BATTERY: Auburn opened game three of the Holy Cross series with freshman Christian Chatterton on the mound and freshman Chase Fralick behind the plate. Chatterton allowed four runs on just four hits with five strikeouts and no walks in 5.1 innings. Fralick, who moved from catcher to third after Guevara’s injury, was 3 of 5 with a home run and two RBI.
“Those two freshmen just absolutely showed what it can be,” said Thompson. “I don’t think he’s a freshman. I think he’s one of our better guys and that’s what we’re trying to build around. Those two guys being together made that work and made it special. It was a bright spot for the future.”
WHATEVER IT TAKES: Carson Myers was probably Auburn’s best pitcher over the weekend. The senior left-hander allowed just one hit in the final 3.0 innings to earn the save Friday night. He struck out three and didn’t issue a walk on 32 pitches. Myers is scheduled to start Tuesday’s game against Troy.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to win,” said Myers. “I just want my team to have the bet shot at winning every single game. We talk about a 35-win team in comparison to a 50-win team. I wanna win more than 50. Whatever the role that is, I’ll do. I’ll coach first base. I don’t care. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
NICE TURNOUT: Auburn set both single game (5,718) and series (15,300) attendance records this weekend at the newly renovated Plainsman Park. Those records are bound to be shattered as the temperature increases and SEC play gets underway.
“It was awesome,” said Myers. “Just hearing everybody so involved, it just makes a difference. It just makes you want to do great things for them. The people that come, they come for a reason. You want to put up results for them.”
