Auburn baseball wins weekend series versus Yale

To call Auburn baseball’s three-game against Yale this weekend a contrast of outcomes would be underselling it. A day after Auburn's pitching dominated Yale hitters during an offensive explosion in an 11-0 victory, Auburn mustered nine total hits across both games of a doubleheader en route to a 4-3 walk-off win in game two and a 5-4 loss in extra innings in game three.

The story of Game One was the exemplary performance of transfer RHP Jordan Armstrong, the pitching MVP from the series. The senior from Chattahoochee Valley Community College, where he went 11-1 with a 1.65 ERA in twelve starts in 2021, picked up right where he left off after last Friday’s four scoreless innings in relief of LHP Tommy Sheehan. Against Yale, he threw 5 1/3rd innings of 4-hit, no run, no walk baseball with eleven strikeouts (a career-high). When asked about being thrust into the Friday night spot for at least one week, Armstrong was excited for the opportunity. "It was awesome," he said. "The first weekend on the Plains and getting a feel for it, the crowd was amazing. I was just trying to keep it dialed in and throw strikes and compete every pitch and don't give in. That's about it." Armstrong didn’t allow his first hit until there were two outs in the fifth, where three Yale strikeouts loaded the bases before Armstrong’s tenth strikeout ended the threat. Armstrong came back out in the sixth inning for one strikeout before being lifted for John Armstrong, who struck out his two batters to close the 6th. Auburn’s five relievers combined for nineteen strikeouts, the most in a combined-game effort for Auburn pitching since recording twenty-one strikeouts versus Arkansas in a fifteen-inning game in April 2019.

Offensively, every starting position player in the lineup got at least one hit, paced by 1B Sonny DiChiara and CF Kason Howell’s three apiece, the fourth time DiChiara had collected at least three hits in the previous five games. The fifteen hits were a season-high for Auburn, as were the five doubles.

Auburn was able to get several young players in the game as well, with freshman pitcher Ben Bosse throwing the 9th and infielder Mason Land playing 2nd base for the 9th inning.

Saturday’s doubleheader was marked by offensive troubles, with Auburn splitting the two games with Yale and accumulating only nine hits across the two contests. Game two concluded in dramatic fashion, with Kason Howell leading off the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run to propel Auburn to a 4-3 victory. Howell finished the game with two of Auburn’s four total hits and contributed nine putouts in center field. "The first game was great," Howell added. "I wasn't really trying to end the game there, but it kind of just happened. The count was 3-2, and I was just trying to get on in that last inning. Good things happen when you're simple in the box."

The late-inning heroics were needed due to struggles with both hitting and starting pitching. Righty Joseph Gonzalez, off of a dominant start in Arlington against a ranked Texas Tech team where he allowed three hits and no runs in five innings while striking out five, struggled to keep Yale’s offense at bay, allowing three runs on seven hits across the first three innings. Auburn relievers Carson Skipper (3 IP, 1H, 0R), Mason Barnett (1 IP, !H, 0R), and Blake Burkhalter (2 IP, 0H, 0R) combined to hold Yale scoreless for the rest of the game and gave the offense a chance to rally. Auburn scored 2 in the 4th, 1 in the 5th, and then ended the game on Kason Howell’s walk-off to open the 9th. It was Auburn’s first walk-off home run since Steven Williams walked off Georgia Tech in the 2019 Regionals.

Game three was a pitching duel, with both Auburn righty Trace Bright and Yale pitcher Colton Shaw turning in six scoreless innings. Bright finished with six strikeouts and three hits allowed, continuing an eleven-inning scoreless streak on the season with only five hits and eleven strikeouts allowed. Yale and Auburn traded runs in the 7th and 8th off of the bullpens, and entered the 9th with Auburn up 3-2 and three outs away from a series sweep. Yale got the leadoff man on via walk and he came around to score, sending the game to extras. Yale added two in the 10th - both of those, as well as four of the five total Yale runs in game two, came from runners who walked to get on and made their way around to score. Auburn cut the lead to one in the 10th on a Ryan Dyal bases-loaded walk, but a strikeout and flyout ended the game.

The offensive frustration was at the forefront of Coach Butch Thompson’s mind after the game. “Too many times, even in advantage counts, we just didn’t meet it at the front door,” Thompson said. “Advantage counts, we were fouled off. We did hit two or three home runs, but we didn’t create enough offense. For the first time, I thought our bats kind of lagged and didn’t get in position. I do have to give Yale some credit, I thought both games they didn’t use many guys (pitchers) and expected them to go and did a great job. I just didn’t think we got our barrel in position, especially in advantage counts. That has not been the case for us.”

The weekend’s offensive MVP was transfer 1B Sonny Dichiara, who went 5-11 over the weekend with 5 runs scored, 3 RBIs, and was walked twice (once intentional) with two home runs and two doubles on the weekend. For the season, DiChiara is batting .545 with six doubles, three home runs, and seven RBIs. He’s also quickly become a crowd favorite, known for his walkup music of “The Italian Wedding Song” and his nickname “The Thicc King”. Thompson was effusive with his praise for the Samford transfer. “Yeah, he’s done good for his career and now, I’m glad he’s in an Auburn uniform. He brings something to us - it’s not just good at-bats, he doesn’t just have power. He knows the strike zone, he thinks the game and he just has this infectious natural personality. When he smiles, you smile - Ryan Bliss had that effect as well. But even his walkup song just gets everybody engaged in the game. There’s something natural and infectious about Sonny DiChiara - he might have gotten off to a great start, but that personality can be invaluable. We might get as much from that as whatever production he gives us this year. It’s been awesome to see.”

Auburn continues their loaded non-conference schedule this Tuesday and Wednesday with single-game matchups against Alabama State and UAB before hosting Rhode Island for a four-game series Friday through Sunday. The doubleheader against Yale on Saturday affords the entire bullpen one entire day of rest, needed after Auburn threw nine different relievers for Saturday's doubleheader (with two of them having also appeared on Friday night), and with six games upcoming in a six-day span from Tuesday through Sunday.