AUBURN | There wasn’t much of a settling in period for Sonny DiChiara.
In his first three Auburn games after transferring from Samford, DiChiara led the Tigers hitting .556 with three runs scores and three doubles. He also drew two walks and was hit by a pitch twice.
DiChiara had two of Auburn’s three hits, both doubles, in a 3-0 loss to Oklahoma, had one of AU’s three hits in a 2-1 win over No. 12 Texas Tech and then went 2 of 2 with a double and two runs scored in 12-1 win over Kansas State.
He started all three games at first base.
“It was pretty good, wasn’t it,” said Auburn coach Butch Thompson of DiChiara’s debut. “Just steady. Great at-bats. He held up good defensively and played a ton. He’s been swinging that bat. I’m not really surprised.
“I’m telling you, the arms we saw the first two days were pretty impressive. The two starters we saw the first two days were impressive. Sonny was kind of swinging it along. He swung it all weekend against some really good arms.”
Thompson expects DiChiara to quickly become a home crowd favorite. After playing its first three games in Arlington, Texas, Auburn returns to play the next 10 games at Plainsman Park starting with Wednesday night’s home opener against Troy.
“The biggest thing for me and you would have to be there to understand, he was already becoming a crowd favorite by game three. He just makes people smile,” said Thompson. “He has this infectious personality. I know it’s going to happen at Plainsman Park.
“They started playing his walkup song because we were the team (on Saturday) and they started playing it even when we were the visitors. They loved the music and loved Sonny. I think if we would have stayed a few more days they would have adopted him.”
NEARLY PITCH PERFECT: A total of 13 Auburn pitchers combined for a 1.38 ERA in 26 innings over the weekend. They allowed an opposing batting average of just .127 and four earned runs with 25 strikeouts and 15 walks. Joseph Gonzalez and Trace Bright both started and didn’t allow an earned run in 5.0 innings. Blake Burkhalter threw 2.0 perfect innings to earn a save against the Red Raiders, Jordan Armstrong threw 4.0 scoreless innings out of the bullpen and freshman John Armstrong didn’t allow a run in two relief appearances.
“One weekend doesn’t set any courses or anything, but I’m just pleased. I thought the guys just handled themselves well,” said Thompson. “John Armstrong with two appearances, who would have thought that? He’s a guy that is kind of available everyday and can get ready real quick. Then Burkhalter, I think that’s going to give us some confidence moving forward.”
ERROR-FREE: Auburn committed just one error in three games and finished the weekend with a .991 fielding percentage. Brody Moore put in a strong showing at shortstop with six assists and four put outs. He started one of AU’s four double plays.
MORE OFFENSE: The Tigers had a few other players that hit the ball well on the opening weekend. Leadoff hitter Blake Rambusch, who played both right field and third base, batted .308 with four runs scored and a stolen base. Josh Hall started Sunday’s game and finished 2 of 5 with a run scored. Ryan Dyal was just 2 of 10 but drove in three runs while Kason Howell was 0 of 8 but also had three RBI on a sacrifice fly, RBI-groundout and a bases-loaded hit by pitch. Nate LaRue was the DH for Sunday’s game going 1 of 4 with two RBI.
NEXT UP: Auburn will host Troy in the home opener at 5 p.m. CT Wednesday evening. The game will not be available on streaming or T.V. due to a home basketball game scheduled for 7:30 p.m. AU may start Tommy Sheehan again. The Notre Dame transfer started and threw one inning in the opener against Oklahoma. He’s coming off partial Tommy John surgery.
“I could see Sheehan and (Carson) Skipper going again because Troy’s good,” said Thompson. “Until we start knocking on the door of conference, every one of these games means the same. We want to play good baseball and want keep it going. So that might be the matchup and somebody like a Jordan Armstrong could maybe fall into that Friday spot.”
