Butch previews Austin Peay Series

[aubiefifty 16,791]

 

[aubiefifty 16,791]

 

[aubiefifty 16,791]

Auburn beat Austin Peay 7-6 on Friday.

AUBURN, Alabama—Growing up dreaming of playing for the Auburn Tigers, Jacksonville State transfer outfielder Mason Maners had a moment he’ll remember forever on Friday in game one of the series against Austin Peay as his solo home run in the bottom of the ninth gave Butch Thompson’s club a walk off 7-6 victory. 

“I don’t know if anything can top that,” Maners said. “It’s my first walk off ever, at least walk off home run. Doing it in an Auburn uniform around these guys and coaching staff, I’m pretty sure it can’t get better than that.”

With the win the No. 13 Auburn Tigers improve to 11-2 on the year while Austin Peay falls to 10-3.

The home run by Maners came one inning after a solo home run from UAB transfer Christian Hall tied it for the Tigers following five innings of futility against Austin Peay pitchers Jacob Weaver and Tyler Hampu. 

“It’s amazing how baseball works,” Hall said. “It’s just one of those sports where you have to keep scratching and keep clawing. You can’t give up. We had a lot of really, really good swings early in the game. They just didn’t fall. It’s just one of those things where you have to keep scratching and keep clawing. I feel like we’re built for moments like that.”

Scoring five runs in the first two innings and taking control early with Cooper McMurray driving in a pair of runs in the second on a single, Auburn had to make a comeback after Austin Peay clawed their way back into the game with two runs in both the third and fifth innings off starter Chase Allsup. Lasting just four and two/thirds innings before giving way to Zach Crotchfelt out of the bullpen. He retired one batter, but a walk brought in John Armstrong to try to keep the Tigers in front.

Mason Maners celebrates his home run vs. Austin Peay. (Photo: Jason Caldwell, 247Sports)

That would last until the seventh when Austin Peay’s Lyle Miller-Green tied the game with a laser shot to left-center that bounced off the top of the scoreboard. The blast was measured at 454 feet and 115 MPH off the bat.

One inning later, the Governors would take the lead on a single to center to put Auburn behind the eight-ball. Tanner Bauman came on with runners on the corners and got out of the jam. He would pick up the win to improve to 2-0 on the year.

Facing the closer in Hampu, the Tigers went to work in the eighth and it started with Hall’s at-bat.

“I saw a fastball just right down the middle,” Hall said of his swing to tie the game. “Coach (Gabe) Gross is really big about keeping it short and simple with two strikes and trying not to do too much. I kind of knew I was going to get a fastball based off the intel we had off him. I just told myself I wasn’t going to miss it and I kept it as short as possible.”

With Bauman pitching a scoreless ninth, Auburn got back to work with Maners finishing things off in style. Leading off the inning, the lefty got a breaking ball over the plate on his sixth pitch of the at-bat and deposited it on top of the Josh Donaldson Hitting Lab in right field for his third home run of the season. 

It’s one swing he won’t soon forget.

“The guy was spinning it a lot to me,” he said. “I went in there sitting fastball and he threw me a good amount of changeups and sliders. The last one was a slider he just left up a little bit. Just praise the Lord. My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. I couldn’t have done that without Him. 

“I didn’t know it was gone off the bat. I was staring at the flagpole as soon as I hit it saying ‘please get out.’ Praise the Lord it did.”

Auburn and Austin Peay will play game two of the series on Saturday. The first pitch for game two is scheduled for 1 p.m.  There will be no streaming for the contest.