AUBURN, Ala. – On the strength of 11 hits from its top four hitters, Auburn scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to run rule Samford 13-3 Tuesday night at Plainsman Park.
"Our top four guys and then Cooper McMurray to come on board with his home run, so really the top five guys did a lot, and Kason got the big hit there at the end of the ballgame," head coach Butch Thompson said. "We kept working. It happened late there for us. It was really a much closer ballgame."
Leading 7-3 going into the bottom of the eighth, Auburn's first eight hitters reached and the game ended on a bases-clearing double from Kason Howell, marking his 18th double of the season and 66th of his career.
"I want to be consistent. I want to be the same guy every day and lead these guys the best I can, encourage them, be positive," Howell said. "Every year teams go on a run, and we just haven't caught our stride yet. We know we can play really good baseball and tonight was just a great way to start the week."
Auburn's one through four hitters in Cole Foster, Bobby Peirce, Ike Irish and Bryson Ware went a combined 11-for-18 and scored nine runs while driving in six. Foster hit his fifth homer of the season to help the Tigers reclaim the lead in the three-run third inning.
"I think our goal today was to be simple," Foster said. "We were in between pitching all weekend at Alabama, so this week we prepared to just be on one pitch and not miss our pitch. I think that's kind of what we did today, and we dominated our pitch and got the head out and made some good swings."
On the mound, the Tigers turned to three freshmen in Zach Crotchfelt, Hayden Murphy and Drew Nelson to do the lion's share of work. The trio logged the first six innings before giving way to sophomores Parker Carlson and John Armstrong to finish it off. Murphy (1-0) turned in a season high 3.1 innings and earned his first career win.
"Our first three pitchers were freshmen there so they're still taking a step, and tonight was a step forward," Thompson added. "We didn't issue walks or help their offense a whole lot. All these are little, small, modest growths, and they kept them at bay enough and allowed the offense to hook it up there the last two innings."
Crotchfelt made his fifth start of the season and worked around a pair of walks with three strikeouts in the top of the first before giving way to Murphy, who worked into the fifth.
The Tigers (21-15-1) jumped out to a quick lead in the bottom of the opening frame when Irish singled up the middle to score Foster, and Peirce also scampered home as the throw to first sailed into the visitor's dugout.
Samford (21-16) evened the score with a run in each of the next two frames, but Auburn reclaimed the lead with three runs in the home half of the third. Foster started the inning with his fifth homer of the year, and Ware singled home Peirce three batters later. A walk to Justin Kirby loaded the bases and another to Howell made it a 5-2 ballgame.
Foster reached for the third time in as many plate appearances to start the fourth and stole a pair of bases before Ware drove him in with his second RBI single of the night.
Samford got the run back on a RBI single in the top of the fifth and threatened to draw closer with a runner on third and one out. The Bulldogs hit a fly ball to left field and the runner attempted to tag, but Peirce fired a strike from 220 feet to cut down the run at the plate and preserve the three-run lead. Nelson relieved Murphy with one out in the frame and turned in a scoreless sixth with a strikeout.
McMurray hit a moonshot home run on top of the hitting facility in right field to extend the lead to 7-3 in the seventh. The ball left McMurray's bat at 108 miles per hour.
Carlson worked a three-up, three-down inning in the seventh but allowed a pair of baserunners in the eighth and gave way to Armstrong, who allowed a single to load the bases but left them that way with a pair of strikeouts. Armstrong entered with the tying run on deck in a four-run game and earned his second save.
The offense linked it up for the aforementioned six runs on five hits and three walks to end the game early. Peirce and Irish drove in runs to make it a 9-3 game before Kirby drew a bases-loaded walk to get to double digits. Howell then hit the bases-clearing double to match a season high with four RBI and end the game.
Auburn starts its second half of Southeastern Conference play with a three-game series vs. Mississippi State (22-15, 5-10 SEC) Friday-Sunday at Plainsman Park.
Auburn run rules Samford to start homestand
