A big third inning gave No. 5 Auburn a decisive series win.
The Tigers struck for four runs in the third and two pitchers held No. 7 Tennessee to four hits in an 8-1 win in seven innings Sunday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Auburn, which improves to 33-15 overall and 13-11 in the SEC, won game one 6-1 before losing game two 5-4 in 11 innings.
“We competed our heart out,” AU coach Butch Thompson told the Auburn Network. “That draws us closer to some goals that we have. I think that gets us to eight top 10 wins and 15 top 25 wins. Just keep building a resume. We came here and earned it.”
AU starter Christian Chatterton (4-1) earned the win with 3.0 shutout innings. The freshman right-hander allowed two hits and struck out two on 40 pitches.
Cade Fisher held UT to one run on two hits over the final 4.0 innings to earn the save. The junior left-hander struck out five.
“My approach was pretty simple. Just try to throw everything as hard as I could in the strike zone,” Fisher told the Auburn Network. “I’ve been struggling this year with that. Been kind of up and down with velocity, the mental approach. This game, I just felt free and that I could throw the ball wherever I wanted to.”
Auburn loaded the bases with no outs in the third on back-to-back-to-back singles by Chase Fralick, Eric Snow and Chris Rembert. Fralick scored on a wild pitch and AU added three more runs on an RBI-single by Cade Belyeu, RBI-groundout by Ike Irish and sacrifice fly by Lucas Steele.
AU added three more in the fifth on bases-loaded walks by Steele and Eric Guevara, and an RBI-single by Fralick, and another in the seventh on an RBI-single by Steele.
“We were doing a great job working as a team together and getting guys on so the other guys could knock them in,” Steele told the Auburn Network.
Steele was 1 of 2 with three RBI. Rembert, Belyeu, Fralick and Cooper McMurray had two hits apiece. Belyeu, Irish, Guevara and Fralick had one RBI apiece. Irish scored three runs.
Auburn returns to action hosting South Carolina for a three-game series beginning Thursday night at 7 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
“We’re excited to be home,” said Steele. “This road series win was huge for us and we’re feeling real confident going back home to play South Carolina.”
