Tigers Win Wet And Wild Series Finale

Graceful giant Colter Bean

Auburn fell behind 4-0 in a game played in light rain before moving ahead 5-4 in the third inning. However, starting pitcher Chris Bootcheck and reliever Jon Renfro struggled and the Razorbacks built an 11-6 advantage after scoring four runs in the fourth and three in the fifth inning.

However, the Tigers rallied with three runs in the fifth, one in the sixth and four in the seventh as closer Colter Bean came in earlier than usual to post the victory. He allowed one run and just three hits in 3 2/3 innings of work to improve his record to 2-1 on the season. As a team, the Tigers are now 22-3 overall and 2-1 in the SEC. Arkansas is 1-2 in the league and 11-8 overall.

Auburn tied the game at 13-13 on a sacrifice fly to center by Casey Dunn to score Gabe Gross. John Tyler, whose single had scored Chad Wandall earlier in the inning, scored on a close play at the plate after a wild pitch bounced off the Plainsman Park brick wall directly back to the Arkansas catcher.

"I wasn't happy with our pitching, but we did a good job hitting the ball against what I still believe is a very good Arkansas team," Baird said in giving an overview of the series. "They were a preseason Top 20 club and I thought they played very well here."

Arkansas pounded out 17 hits Sunday, but that wasn't enough to outscore the Tigers, who had 14 hits, including a homer by Todd Faulkner and a pair of doubles each by Jamie Kersh and Chad Wandall. Wandall had four hits, drove home three and scored twice. Kersh had three hits, three RBI and three runs scored. Freshman Gross had a pair of hits and drove home two Tigers.

On Saturday, it was Arkansas making the big comeback. Auburn led 7-1 after five innings with the team's hottest pitcher, Brent Schoening, on the mound. However, the Razorbacks chased Auburn's starter in the seventh and then shelled relievers Bean, Brad Weis and Kayce Weakley. After nine innings the Razorbacks were 20-9 winners with 18 hits. The Tigers had 17 hits themselves, including three each by Dominic Rich and Hayden Gliemmo.

In the series opener, one big inning was the difference as the Tigers scored 10 runs in the third inning as AU topped the Hogs 11-4. Gliemmo gave up just two earned runs in five innings of work to improve his record to 7-1. Kevin Knorst allowed just three hits and one run in four innings of relief. "I thought Knorst gave us a big boost out of the bullpen," Baird says.

The victory, which was Auburn's 13th straight, featured 13 hits from the Tigers. Nine different Tigers had an RBI and Dunn and Faulkner each had two.

"Overall, I was pleased to win the series, especially coming back from six runs down in the final game," Baird says. "Our pitching has not been as consistent as we hoped it would be, but we have been hitting the ball well and have made a lot of strong defensive plays." Baird had special praise for great catches by Gliemmo in left and Mailon Kent in center plus a game-ending play by Kersh at third as examples of strong defense on Sunday.

With final exams scheduled this week, the Tigers are off until a three-game weekend series at Vanderbilt starting on Friday at 7 p.m.