Auburn baseball ‘responds’ with come-from-behind win at Jax State
For the second straight day, Auburn got into a tight defensive battle with an in-state foe. However, what made Wednesday’s game at Jax State different from Tuesday’s win over UAB on Tuesday was that Auburn needed to come from behind to get the win.
Trailing 1-0 heading to the 7th inning, a trio of hits from the top half of Auburn’s lineup made way for four runs to score. Two more insurance runs in the 9th inning would be enough to escape Jacksonville with a 6-3 win at Rudy Abbott Field.
“We responded. I thought that was the difference there in the ballgame,” head coach Butch Thompson said following Wednesday’s game. “It’s neat to play some of these closer games and having to come from behind. Some teams can only win one way. I think we’re at least learning or gaining a little confidence that we can win more than one way.”
Both teams were held scoreless through the first five innings before Jax State broke open the tie by posting a run in their half of the 6th inning. The Gamecocks led off the inning with a base runner due to an error by Tiger shortstop Cole Foster. That run scored two at-bats later on a right-field double by Mason Maners to put Jax State up, 1-0.
Auburn responded by delivering a punch in the form of a four-run top of the 7th inning with two outs. Foster tied the game on a single to left field to score Caden Green from third base. Justin Kirby would give Auburn the lead on a ground-rule double that scored Mike Bello. Finally, Ike Irish gave the Tigers added insurance on a two-run double to left field that scored Kirby and Foster to give Auburn the 4-1 lead.
Auburn added two more runs in the top of the 9th inning when Chris Stanfield plated two on a single to left field to extend Auburn’s lead to 6-1. Those two runs would be considered the game’s most important for Auburn, as the Gamecocks fired back by scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth to cut Auburn’s lead to 6-3.
It would be the second night in a row that Auburn allowed their opponent to bring the tying run to the plate, but Will Cannon struck out Maners to close the game.
Three Tigers recorded multiple hits in the game, with Foster leading the way with a 4-for-4 night. Freshmen Stanfield and Irish each had two hits and two RBI. Starting pitcher Konnor Copeland pitched five innings of two-hit baseball, striking out six batters. Chase Isbell earned the win by allowing one hit in 1.0 innings of work, making way for Cannon to earn his third save of the season.
Auburn will welcome Southeastern Louisiana to Plainsman Park to begin a three-game series with the Lions on Friday at 6 p.m. CT. Southeastern is currently 9-4, and most recently won a midweek contest at Alabama A&M, 14-0 on Wednesday.
