AUBURN | After a slow start that saw him go 0 for 7 at the plate in Auburn’s first two games, Ike Irish has caught fire.

The preseason All-American batted .476 with nine runs scored, one home run and six RBI in the last six games. He batted .545 in the Tigers’ three-game sweep of Wright State last weekend.

“I thought he did great,” said AU coach Butch Thompson after Sunday’s 9-4 win. “I thought his energy was good. He played with a lot of spirit.”

After working very hard during the offseason to improve his defensive play at catcher, Irish was replaced at the position after two games. The struggles in the field carried over to his plate appearances.

Watching freshman Chase Fralick and transfer Lucas Steele working at the position last week helped Irish make some needed adjustments.

“I think it was a big learning thing for me,” said Irish. “The first couple of games my care level — I cared about being perfect on everything. Perfect throws, perfect pitch-calling, perfect everything, and it totally shut me down.

“At the end of the day, we’re like offensive linemen. A catcher should not be noticed. For me, that was a big thing and a learning thing for me. Just have fun back there. I think getting back in there today, that’s what it was all about for me, just having fun. And I think I was able to do that.”

Irish stood out in his return to catcher Sunday, throwing out four base runners in the first 2.1 innings.

“It was huge,” said Irish. “They made a lot of mistakes on the base paths early. We took advantage of that and we were able to get some quick outs because of it. I think that’s how we play. If they make a mistake we’re going to try to capitalize off of it.”

Auburn hosts Samford Tuesday night at 6 p.m. CT on SECN+/ESPN+.

NEEDED BREAK: After suffering a minor hip pointer, Cade Belyeu was substituted out in the ninth inning of Saturday’s game and held out Sunday. But it was also important to give Belyeu a break. The sophomore had started every game since losing his mother to cancer on Opening Day, Feb. 14

“He went through a pretty traumatic week,” said Thompson. “Just felt when we took him out yesterday, we could tell he wasn’t moving right. We wanted to give him the whole day off (Sunday) to hopefully be back ready to go on Tuesday.”

FRESHMAN HONORS: Bub Terrell earned SEC Co-Freshman of the Week honors after batting .368 with one double, two home runs and seven RBI in five games. The outfielder has quickly become a key player in the clubhouse. “He makes you laugh all the time,” said shortstop Deric Fabian. “You never really see him down. He’s always a guy bringing energy, making everyone laugh and keeping it loose in the dugout.”

STEP FORWARD: After last weekend’s opening series against Holy Cross, Thompson expressed his disappointment in the play of his team saying they looked like they were putting too much pressure on themselves and not playing up to their potential at the plate, on the mound or defensively.

“I’ve seen more spirit from Tuesday to the (Sunday) … than I saw the first three games,” said Thompson. “I think our team has a chance to be close if we continue to make good decisions and stay together. As we’re challenged, if we’ll continue to lean on one another and not fracture, this has a chance to be a close team. This week was more of what I expected to see from us when we play the game of baseball.”