2/22/23 Auburn Articles

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247sports.com

 

Auburn to play host to USC after weather forces change in baseball series

Jason Caldwell

3–4 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama–Auburn's three-game baseball series on the West Coast, scheduled for this week, has been moved to Plainsman Park due to bad weather forecast in southern California. Coach Butch Thompson's Tigers were scheduled to play single games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday vs. the USC Trojans in Los Angeles, but a major winter storm, which is expected to include heavy rain and unusually cold weather in the Los Angeles area, has been forecast for the area and prompted the change.

Game times for the series in Auburn this weekend are scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday.

"It's hard," Thompson said of making the change. "We had already packed our bags to leave on Thursday. The forecast has been really tough for Los Angeles. Andy Stankiewicz, the head coach for Southern Cal, is a star. He wants to play. We want to play. We got together together and both administrations just absolutely got after it and canceled our flights and created flights for Southern Cal. They are coming to Plainsman Park for the first time in history. We're going to play this three-game series in Auburn, Alabama.

"Pass the word. Get the word out. The ticket office is aware and has been working hard to get information out to our season ticket holders and then give other fans a chance to show up. There will be price breaks, ticket breaks. We would love to see our people figure out how to re-direct and come to Auburn, Alabama this weekend to watch the Tigers play. I think it's pretty neat."

Season ticket holders will get the first right of refusal to purchase tickets in their designated seating location, which will be sold through a digital application in the ticket holders’ online account. Ticket holders will have the opportunity to purchase as a three-game package during the pre-sale timeframe and may only purchase up to their season ticket allotment in their same seats. No upgrade opportunities will be available.

Following the pre-sale deadline, remaining inventory will go on sale to the public with both reserved and Tiger Terrace tickets being sold for $10. All remaining inventory will be sold on a single-game basis. There will be no option to use in a mini plan or flex package.

All tickets for this weekend, both to season tickets holders and the general public, will be delivered digitally.

With questions or for more information, contact the Auburn Ticket Office at 855-282-2010, option 1, or email tickets@auburn.edu.

14COMMENTS

Sunday’s game will coincide with the end of the scheduled War Eagle Run Fest. Anyone arriving before 11 a.m. Sunday should use Wire Road to Heisman Drive to access campus.

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247sports.com

 

Auburn blasts UNA to take impressive win in Huntsville

Jason Caldwell

6–7 minutes

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HUNTSVILLE, Alabama—Looking to rebound from Sunday's loss to Indiana, the Auburn baseball Tigers did that in resounding fashion on Tuesday night against UNA with Bobby Peirce, Bryson Ware and Ike Irish all collecting three hits with both Peirce and Ware homering in a 13-1 win in just seven innings because of a 10-run rule. Konner Copeland got the win for the Tigers, allowing just one run in three and two/thirds innings as the starter. 

In front of a crowd of over 5,000 at Toyota Field, home of the Rocket City Trash Pandas, Auburn was clicking on all cylinders as the Tigers improved to 3-1 on the season. In addition to their three hits, both Peirce and Ware drove in three runs each while shortstop Cole Foster walked three times and scored three runs in the win.

"All honesty, I think that's one of the best games we have played since I have been the head coach at Auburn," coach Butch Thomson said. "We were very disappointed Sunday. I don't think I have had hitters for seven innings to evaluate a strike zone the way they did tonight. That's about as good as I have seen. Did not make an error in the baseball game. Did not walk a batter by the pitching staff. The seventh inning, the last inning, Chase Isbell threw nine pitches for three outs and an immaculate inning. You don't see that everyday. It was a really good exclamation point to finish the ballgame."

Ware agreed with his head coach, saying this was a complete game by the Tigers that came at a good time for this team heading into a series against USC.

"It was huge," Ware said. "It was huge. Coach Thompson was talking about how big this game was for us before the game. I'm super-proud of how we pitched. No walks today, which is everything when it comes to keeping your pitch count low and your runs low. It's really easy to play behind them when your pitchers are filling up the zone. They pitched great for us, even guys that got in the game late that didn't start. They got some hits for us. I'm just really proud to see us click on all cylinders."

It didn’t take long for Auburn’s offense to get going on Tuesday night against UNA true freshman Avery Brown. Making his first career start in front of a big crowd at Toyota Field, Brown fell behind Peirce before the senior outfielder lined a single into right field to get the Tigers started on a good note. That’s when things went from bad to worse for Brown as he hit Brody Moss and walked Justin Kirby to load the bases with nobody out.

Continuing his strong start, Irish singled to right field to put Auburn on the board and when Ware lifted a fly ball to center field to easily score Moss, the Tigers were up 2-0, but they were just getting started.

A Ryan Dyal single pushed the lead to three before Foster walked to keep the inning going and the pressure on Brown. That would be all for the freshman as UNA went to the bullpen, but it wouldn’t matter as local product Cam Hill delivered the big blow of the inning with a two-run single to make it 5-0 Auburn. When Kason Howell reached on a fielder’s choice to score Foster, the lead was six for the Tigers after just one inning of play.

"After losing on Sunday, I think it lit a little bit of a fire for us," Peirce said. "We wanted to come out quick and put up a few runs. We did that, putting up six in the first and three more in the third inning. It was a great way to get it going."

Following a scoreless second inning, the Tigers added to the lead in the third and it started with help from the Lions when Foster was hit by a pitch with one out before a walk to Hill brought Howell to the plate. Playing smart baseball, the senior center fielder put down a perfect bunt to load the bases for Peirce.

Bobby Peirce had his second three-hit game of the season on Tuesday night. (Photo: Jason Caldwell/Auburnundercover, 247Sports)

Getting a pitch to turn on, the Auburn outfielder smashed a single down the left field line to score both Foster and Hill to make it 8-0. When Moss followed with a sacrifice fly to score Howell from third, the lead was nine after just three innings.

After throwing three scoreless innings in his first outing of the season, Copeland ran into trouble in the fourth when Kyle Machado reached on a one-out single and Jonathan Lane followed with a double to put runners on second and third for the Lions. Bowing up, Copeland got a fly ball for the second out, but it allowed Machado to score and put UNA on the board. Getting ahead 1-2 on the next hitter, Copeland gave way to reliever John Armstrong who struck out the batter to keep the lead at eight.

After missing a golden opportunity to break the game open in the bottom of the fourth when Hill hit into a double play with the bases loaded and one out, Auburn extended the lead on one swing of the bat in the fifth when Peirce blasted a solo shot into the UNA bullpen to make it 10-1 Tigers. It was his first of the season and put Auburn a single run from ending this game early with the 10-run rule in effect.

One inning later Auburn would extend the lead with Irish leading things off with a single to bring Ware to the plate. Getting all of one, Ware blasted his first home run of the season over the UNA bullpen to make it 12-1 Tigers. Later in the frame, true freshman Chris Stanfield would single home Foster to make it a 12-run lead.

3COMMENTS

Chase Isbell finished off the game in the seventh by throwing just nine pitches and striking out all three UNA batters to finish things off.

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theplainsman.com

 

Tigers return to Madison to face North Alabama - The Auburn Plainsman

 

~4 minutes

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Auburn travels to Madison, Alabama, at Toyota Field for the second straight season Tuesday to face the University of North Alabama . The Lions had a 12-41 overall record last season with wins against Cincinnati and Alabama.

The Tigers had an eventful season opener against Indiana with an 8-4 win Friday evening and a 6-1 win Saturday afternoon. Auburn soon fell short to Indiana Sunday with an 11-2 loss to finish the series. 

As for the Lions, they played the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee this past weekend — leaving them with a 1-2 record to start their season. North Alabama was able to grab a 14-6 victory to close opening weekend. 

Six of North Alabama's nine leadoff hitters reached base during its first game this weekend, but the Lions were unable to close the deal and bring them home.

Key players for the Lions include cleanup hitter Lane Johnson who smacked five home runs last season. Graduate student Kyle Mechado was able to squeeze in three hits against the Panthers, and junior Dominick Mclntyre had three RBIs. Redshirt freshman Gehrig Frei recorded three hits as well to start his career at UNA. 

Jacob James, the freshman LHP allowed four runs on five hits through five innings on the mound Sunday. Sophomore Will Morris was able to clean up the last four innings Sunday for the Lions — leaving them victorious. 

UNA has solid, reliable pitchers in its bullpen who will take the mound Tuesday. Auburn ran through a total of 15 pitchers its opening weekend but expects to have a full bullpen.

Konnor Copeland is set to start on the bump for the Tigers. Copeland has some tricks up his sleeve, coming to the hill with a 0.00 ERA and nine strikeouts during his two previous starts for Auburn. 

“He had a really good start here last year against Kennesaw and has been in the program second year, and he’ll get it started,” said head coach Butch Thompson. 

Veteran Joseph Gonzalez had a successful time on the mound with five scoreless innings. John Armstrong, the sophomore from Marietta, Georgia, pitched 3.1 innings and retired the first seven batters — allowing just one baserunner. Freshman Zach Crotchfelt made his Auburn debut this past weekend, pitching 3.2 innings and throwing four strikeouts. 

Although the Tigers didn’t end on a win this weekend, freshman Ike Irish was awarded SEC Freshman of the Week after accumulating a double and a hit in all three games. Another newcomer, Justin Kirby made an impact offensively with two home runs. Kirby was one of 11 SEC players to hit homers this opening weekend.

“We're gonna go up there and try and put our best foot forward,” Thompson said. 

Auburn's first pitch at Toyota Field against North Alabama is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST. The game will be streamed on the Rocket City Trash Pandas' Youtube channel.

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