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Auburn Ace Jake Marciano Shuts Down LSU, Advance in SEC Tournament

The Auburn Tigers handed the ball to lefty Jake Marciano for their opening game in the SEC Tournament, and he delivered.
Scott Kennedy|
Auburn's Jake Marciano gave up just one run and four hits in six innings in the 3-1 win over LSU in the SEC Tournament.
Auburn's Jake Marciano gave up just one run and four hits in six innings in the 3-1 win over LSU in the SEC Tournament. | Zach Bland / Auburn University

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The No. 6-seeded Auburn Tigers had to wait until Wednesday night to get their tournament started, but the extra rest left ace Jake Marciano sharp in their 3-1 win over LSU on Wednesday night.

Marciano went six innings, gave up one run, four hits, walked one, and struck out four as he frustrated LSU hitters all night.

Marciano led the Tigers in ERA on the season at 2.65 and carried a miniscule .97 WHIP. When his name was called, he was ready.

“It was exciting to get the ball for the first game of the SEC tourney,” Marciano said after the game. “I trusted my team behind me and trusted Chase. I’m happy we were able to get it done tonight.”

Marciano and Auburn did it in front of a record- breaking crowd. The 14,461 in attendance was the largest Wednesday crowd in tournament history and the fourth biggest ever for the event.

“Another great test for us,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “That’s as big of a crowd as I’ve been a part of over three schools over these 25 years. I think the SEC and Hoover should be excited about a Wednesday night crowd like that.”

The teams were scoreless through the first three innings as LSU starter Casan Evans struck out eight Auburn batters through 4.2 innings. LSU struck first in the top of the fourth on some old-fashioned ABC baseball (double, sac bunt, sac fly), but Auburn tied it in the bottom of the inning on Chase Fralick's 14th home run of the year.

Auburn forced LSU into an error with some aggressive base running in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead. After rounding third, Brandon McCraine strayed a little too far off the bag, but LSU second baseman Jack Ruckert tried to make a tough play and threw the ball away.

Auburn added some insurance in the bottom of the sixth with an Eric Guevara towering blast to left, his 12th of the season.

Marciano handed the ball to Jackson Sanders after six, and Sanders shut LSU down with three scoreless innings to get the save. He didn't allow a hit, walked two, and struck out two. Sanders thought he had won the game twice in the bottom of the ninth, but LSU challenged a pair of 3-2 pitches and won.

“Composure,” Sanders said of his mindset when the reviews went LSU’s way. “In the ninth inning crazy stuff always happens. You’ve got to be prepared for everything. I think we did a good job tonight, me and Chase staying on the same page, locking in there. It was an ultimate fight to the end.”

The fight is just beginning for the Tigers in the SEC Tournament bracket. They advanced to the quarter finals to take on No. 3 seed Texas A&M, which has a full allotment of pitchers, having had a double bye thus far.

The Tigers took two out of three from the Aggies earlier this month, sweeping a Saturday doubleheader 18-5 and 5-4. They dropped the finale of the series on Sunday 4-3.

If they want to advance to take on the winner of Arkansas vs. Texas, they'll need to make it three of four against the Aggies. First pitch is scheduled in Hoover at 6:30 p.m. CDT on the SEC Network and ESPN+.

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Scott Kennedy
SCOTT KENNEDY

Scott is an Atlanta-based sports media professional with stints as Director of Scouting of Scout.com, VP of Content Production at Sports Illustrated, and Managing Editor at CBS Interactive / 247 Sports, among others.

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