Tigers take must-win series
AUBURN | In an absolute must-win game, Auburn’s bullpen came through for a second time this weekend to set up another must-win series.
Joseph Gonzalez and and Carson Skipper held Texas A&M to one earned run over the final 5.0 innings to lead the Tigers to an 8-5 win in the rubber game of the series.
“Both teams needed it so desperately,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “Great bounce back for our guys. The topic of our day was being insanely resilient. Both teams, you can tell are just at the brink of fighting for their lives. It wasn’t perfect but I’m thankful for the win.”
Auburn, 22-25 overall and 8-19 in the conference, is now tied with the Aggies for the 12th and final spot in the SEC Tournament. AU will close out the regular season at Missouri, which is just a game behind in 14th place, while TAMU hosts LSU next weekend.
“It was huge. This was our season, pretty much. This series was,” said junior Kason Howell. “We’re resilient like Coach Thompson has been talking about … We’re still in control and it feels really good to have this series won.”
Gonzalez (2-3) earned the win allowing two runs, one earned, in 3.2 innings. The freshman right-hander, who threw nine pitches in 1.0 inning of relief in Friday’s 5-4 win, struck out three and didn’t issue a walk. Skipper earned his first save of the season allowing one hit over the final 1.1 innings with three strikeouts.
Auburn starter Trace Bright held TAMU to three runs, one earned, on six hits in 4.0 innings. He struck out three and didn’t issue a walk on 74 pitches.
“Had to have it,” said Thompson. “It’s pretty incredible after last night’s game to see there wasn’t a walk in the ballgame, how clean it was from that standpoint. When you do that, you’re going to have success.”
The Tigers scored three runs with two outs in the first. An error by third baseman Ty Coleman allowed Rankin Woley to score from third and Howell followed with a 2-RBI single.
The Aggies scored a run in the second before AU answered with three more in the bottom of the inning. A throwing error by shortstop Kalae Harrison allowed Judd Ward to score from second base, Woley singled home a run and Garrett Farquhar added a two-out, RBI single one batter later.
Five of AU’s first six runs were unearned.
TAMU cut the lead in half with two runs in the fourth but AU answered with a run in the bottom of the inning on two-out RBI single by Howell. TAMU scored a run in the sixth and another in the eighth to cut AU’s lead to 7-5, but Ward has an RBI groundout in the eighth to push it back to a 3-run lead.
Howell was 2 of 3 with three RBI, Woley 2 of 3 with one RBI, Farquhar 2 of 4 with one RBI and Cam Hill was 2 of 5 with two doubles.
“We’re still playing for something and that’s huge,” said Thompson.
Auburn hosts North Alabama Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT on SECN+/ESPN+. The three-game series at Missouri begins Thursday night at 6:30 p.m.
