Takeaways from Auburn baseball's game two victory versus USC
Auburn baseball bludgeoned USC's pitching with their bats, winning 12-6 in Saturday's game two to win the series. Here's what you need to know about the victory.
Auburn's offense continues to do more than enough
After a low-scoring battle through five innings, Auburn's bats picked up in the 6th. Auburn sent ten hitters to the plate, scoring five runs and putting the game out of reach. The most impressive facet was that the scoring was started by the bottom of the lineup - after a leadoff line drive by Kason Howell was snagged for an out, Cooper McMurray & Brody Moss singled, and the choice to pinch-hit for Nate LaRue with Mike Bello worked: Bello got an RBI on a fielder's choice, and then came around to score after consecutive singles by Pierce and Foster. In total, Auburn had 14 hits, with all but two starters registering a hit and five Tigers collecting multiple hits in the contest.
John Armstrong gets another win...barely
The sophomore sidearmer, one day removed from throwing two pitches and getting the win after Auburn's offense exploded in the 4th, again was the beneficiary of good timing. He was called on to replace Tommy Vail in the 6th with two runners on and two outs, and again induced a weak groundball to escape the inning, this one in three pitches.
Armstrong stayed in and handled business in the 7th before running into trouble in the 8th - without the trademark bend in his slider, due to fatigue, he walked the bases loaded with only one out before being lifted for Will Cannon, who earned the save last night. Cannon got out of the 8th-inning jam with only one hit allowed, but all three runners scored in the process.
Thompson took the blame for Armstrong not being able to finish the 8th during his postgame comments to the media: "He ran out of gas. [...] We should have gotten him out earlier. It's his third appearance in about four or five days."
"We're out a starter, we're grinding through, and he's been amazing for us."
"Timely hitting" continues to be a theme
After USC scored three in the 8th to bring the lead within two, Bryson Ware and Cooper McMurray apparently took that personally.
Both men hit two-run homeruns in the 8th inning, Ware scoring Foster (who walked) and McMurray scoring Howell (who singled) to extend the lead to 12-6
A consistent demand of Butch Thompson's has been timely hitting, and Auburn's offense has been able to respond every time a lead gets a little too close for comfort.
Ware's homerun continues his torrid start - through the first six games of the season, the senior is 13-21 with 8 RBIs, 5 runs, 4 doubles, 2 homeruns, and a stolen base. Of particular note has been his improvement against offspeed and breaking pitches, which he attributes to a lot of time in the batting cages and focus on "being an athlete and getting lost in the game". The former junior college shortstop, now entrenched at third after two season in the outfield, looks to be an asset for the Tigers and is their statistical leader on offense at the moment, batting .619.
What does Auburn do at catcher?
For the first time since becoming the starter for Auburn vs Ole Miss last season, Nate LaRue was lifted for a pinch-hitter early in the contest. Already being dropped in the batting order to 8th, the senior was pinch-hit for in Auburn's big 6th inning.
On the season, LaRue's 1-14 with three walks and four strikeouts, scoring once and stealing two bases. The senior debuted a new batting stance this season, much more open to accommodate his right-eye dominance, but it hasn't translated into statistical performance to this point. The defense isn't slumping - Indiana didn't attempt a steal against him all series, and USC has only attempted one in two games - but with so many options behind him in a stacked position group (Carter Wright finished the game, going 0-1), fans are beginning to ask how long the leash will be. Thompson has previously stated that he's fine with prioritizing defense behind the plate, so nothing suggests a change is imminent.
Herberholz gives Auburn another pitching option
With expected starter Joseph Gonzalez being scratched with a sore shoulder, the start went to Christian Herberholz. A transfer from Southern Union (and Tennessee Tech before that), the junior went four innings with five hits and two earned runs, striking out four.
But as Butch Thompson said after...
It's not enough
"We need more" was the succinct answer from Thompson when Mark Etheridge of D1Baseball.com asked about Thompson's assessment of the pitching staff.
Thompson explained that he was happy with the overall results, but the floor wasn't really there. "So, two series wins, but I know what last Sunday looked like with some young guys. We went for it again - we actually expended some guys today, used some guys to win a series, and there's no regrets there, but we have to fill in some gaps."
"Was it the cleanest game from over on our side, pitching wise? No. Can we grow and get better? Yes."
The coaching staff is getting more trust in the depth of the roster
Postgame, Thompson was overall pleased with what the coaching staff learned about their team tonight, "Carter Wright did a nice job coming into the game - We think Nate LaRue is one of our best throwers, but we thought it was a big at-bat. Mike Bello come in and got the at-bat, and now I have more trust in Carter Wright. We have to keep being able to do that and learn some things."
"We need some guys, just, to show up and fill in some gaps. We had some young guys last week (on Sunday), and we're going to be right back in the middle of seeing some of those guys do some things for us tomorrow."
It all comes back to pitching
Chase Isbell, who was ill late in the week, will be the starter for Sunday's game three if pitching coach Daren Schoenrock gives the okay to Thompson tonight. But Sunday will continue more of the "tryouts", so to speak, of the youth on the roster.
"We need some young guys to go out and lay some good tracks for us and make some adjustments from last week. It's actually an opportunity and I'm pretty excited for it."
Game three's first pitch is at noon, and will be streamed on SEC Network+. The radio call, with Brad Law and Andy Burcham, will be available locally on 95.9FM and online at AuburnTigers.com.