Baseball mows down Indiana Game 2

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247sports.com

 

Gonzalez dominant as Auburn mows down Indiana to take Game 2

Jason Caldwell

6–7 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama—Auburn got five scoreless innings from junior right-hander Joseph Gonzalez and three hits and three runs batted in from senior outfielder Bobby Peirce as the Tigers beat Indiana 6-1 on Saturday to take the first two games of the series from the Hoosiers. Coach Butch Thompson's team will go for the sweep on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The story of the game for Auburn was the pitching of Gonzalez. Limited in the preseason and only throwing two innings to live hitters before Saturday’s start against Indiana, Auburn was hoping to get at least a pair of innings from Gonzalez to get his season going. They got much more than that as the big junior was dominant against the Hoosiers.

Allowing a leadoff single that was erased by a double play to end the top of the first, Gonzalez needed just five pitches in the second inning and was officially in cruise control. Mowing the Hoosiers down the next three innings, he left with Auburn leading 4-0 in front of a huge crowd at Plainsman Park. 

In his five innings of work, the Puerto Rico native threw just 41 total pitches with 32 going for strikes to set the tone on the mound. Chase Allsup allowed a run on two hits in one and two/thirds innings while TCU transfer Tommy Vail earned the save, pitching two scoreless innings to finish things off.

“He’s only faced hitters last Sunday for the first time," Thompson said. "Of course, he’s thrown bullpens, but he didn’t try to do too much. His one strikeout came the second batter of the game. Five complete innings, less than 50 pitches. We all thought how impressive that was. After the second batter of the game he retired seven in a row via the ground ball on the infield. I think he wound up in five innings having 11 or 12 ground balls on the infield and I think we caught every one of them except for one. He really understands that concept of 9-on-1.”

The hitting star of the game, Peirce said it all started with Gonzalez on the mound.

"Think our pitchers have done a great job getting the ball in the zone for the most part, and Joseph did great today," Peirce said. "I mean, threw less than 50 pitches in five innings. It's one of the better outings I've seen for somebody that really hasn't thrown that much. It was awesome."

Joseph Gonzalez was dominant on Saturday (Photo: Jason Caldwell/Auburnundercover, 247Sports)

Following a scoreless first for the Tigers, they looked like they would break through in the second. With Nate LaRue at second following a walk and a stolen base, Ware smashed a one-out double towards the Indiana bullpen in right-center. With the center fielder getting a glove on the ball, LaRue was moving back towards the bag at second. That kept him from being able to score, but Ware didn’t slow down around second and ran into the out. Auburn would fail to score in the inning, but that would change in the third.

Following a walk to junior college second baseman Caden Green, Peirce lined a single to right field to bring Cole Foster to the plate. Doing his job, Foster put down a bunt to move the runners into scoring position for Irish. Continuing his hot start, the true freshman blasted a double just in front of the scoreboard in left field to score both runners and give Gonzalez a 2-0 lead to work with.

One inning later the Tigers would again use the bunt to set up the offense. Ware was hit by a pitch to start the inning and a walk to Brody Wortham brought Green to the plate. Just like Foster, he did his job with a good bunt to move the runners up for Peirce. That would prove to be a good move as he lined a single through the right side to score both runners and push the lead to four.

After five scoreless innings and leading 4-0, Auburn went to the bullpen for sixth-year senior Tommy Sheehan, but it wouldn’t be his day. Walking the first batter he faced, Sheehan got a strikeout before a hit batter and another walk would load the bases with one out. Coming in with the game still very much in doubt, Isbell got a strikeout and a fly ball to end the inning and keep the lead at four.

“That’s a vulnerable point, taking somebody out right there when you think he could probably get to the back end of a ballgame if his stuff stays set," Thompson said. "That created a vulnerable spot when you come out in the sixth inning and change pitchers. We were not in the strike zone right there and I thought one of the biggest competitive moments of the ballgame was Chase Isbell coming into the ballgame. Indiana was right where they wanted to be in the lineup at 3-4 and he set a slider on the first guy and was able to get a strikeout. The guy that had hit the homerun to the opposite field, he made a commitment to not let him get that swing off early. They went tight and got a fly ball to get out of that inning.”

With some momentum after getting out of the jam, Green singled to start the bottom of the sixth to bring Peirce to the plate. Continuing his big day, Peirce lined a double down the left field line to score Green all the way from first. Peirce would take third on the throw to the plate and scored moments later on a Foster single back up the middle.

Indiana finally got on the board in the top of the seventh with a single run off Isbell, but that would be it as Vail threw two scoreless innings to secure the win.