Baseball vs Boston College (weekend series)

[boomstick 1,315]

Didn’t see a thread started about the weekend series. So I figured I’d recap the first two games and set up game three. 

Game one was a bit of a mess. BC got off to a hot start in the 2nd with a 2-run HR off Fitts and never let up, winning 8-2. Fitts would give up 3 HRs in the game (Fuller gave up a fourth) and generally struggled to find any consistency in throwing strikes or getting ahead. Auburn had its chances to score and stay in the game but left 11 men on base. At one point, Auburn started four straight innings by getting the leadoff guy on but couldn’t score. Just an overall rough outing. Butch spoke in the postgame and said it was what he expected from BC and nothing like he expected from us.
 

Game two was a complete 180 as Auburn dominated from the start, winning 16-1 and setting up a rubber match for game three. Mason Barnett dominated on the mound, going 5.2 IP allowing 1 unearned run on 2 hits, 3 Ks, and 2 walks. He consistently stayed ahead and threw strike one, which is something Butch harped on in the postgame after game one. And Auburn’s offense quickly remedied the hitting with runners on base issue from the night before. Ryan Bliss had a 9-pitch at bat with one out in the first that ended in an out but ultimately set up a huge inning. BC walked the next three guys to load the bases, Ware beat a shift with an RBI single through the 4 hole, and then Can Hill had the big hit of the day with a first-pitch grand slam to give Auburn a 5-0 lead it would never relinquish. Tyler Miller, Steven Williams, and Rankin Woley also had HRs in the rout. Miller was 3-3 with 3 runs scored and 6 RBI. Woley was 2-2 with 5 runs scored. Bryson Ware was 2-4. Williams was 1-3 with 2 walks, 3 runs scored, and 2 RBI. Carson Swilling and Hayden Mullins pitched to close out the game. 
 

Game three will see Trace Bright make his second Sunday start for Auburn. Not sure who BC will start, but I know the strength of their pitching staff was their Fri and Sat starters and Butch thought the deeper we could get into their pitching staff, the better our chances are. Today’s game starts at 1:00 CT and will be streaming on SEC Network+.

One note to mention. Butch said after game two that Fitts was in a walking boot. Not sure what that means and hopefully we will get clarification today or tomorrow on his condition. But it might explain some of his struggles. Either way, definitely a blow to this pitching staff to have all three expected weekend starters already out with injuries, although all seemingly minor right now. 

[AUpreacherman22 3,945]

Thanks @boomstick!   Not many teams have pitching depth like we do.  To think all 3 weekend starters are currently unavailable, and we still like our depth better than the #15 team in the country.....impressive!

[ellitor 33,890]

 

Quote

 

No. 22 Auburn evens series with 16-1 win vs. No. 18 Boston College

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 22 Auburn scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back as the Tigers ultimately defeated No. 18 Boston College, 16-1, to even the series Saturday at Plainsman Park.

 
The 15-run margin of victory is the Tigers largest against a ranked opponent since 2007.
 
"What we've done is dug out of a hole and we'll call it step one at this point, but there's much more work to do," head coach Butch Thompson said. "We played good baseball and got off to a good start today, but I don't think we're going to be satisfied until we figure out a way we can hopefully win this series."
 
Freshman two-way player Cam Hill hit a grand slam in the first inning to get the Auburn offense going, and junior infielder Tyler Miller turned in his fourth straight multi-hit effort, going 3-for-3 with a homer and career high six RBI in the contest.
 
"When you're hitting the ball well, everything slows down," Miller said. "You don't have to get a hit every time. You just go up there with the confidence that you're going to do what your squad needs you to do."
 
Sophomore right-hander Mason Barnett (1-0, 0.84) earned his first career win in his second start of the season. The Cartersville, Georgia, native pitched 5.1 innings and allowed one unearned run on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
 
"The main thing today was just trying to get ahead and stay ahead," Barnett said. "That's what the game plan was.
 
"The rhythm came really from the first pitch, having that first pitch ground ball back to me," Barnett added. "I was ready to roll after that."
 
The Tigers scored three or more runs in four of the first five innings and jumped out to a 15-0 lead.
 
After the first two batters of the game were retired, five straight Auburn players reached and came in to score. Bryson Ware got things going with a two-out, bases-loaded infield single, and Hill followed with his aforementioned grand slam to cap off the five-run first.
 
The Tigers added to the advantage with three runs in the third, three in the fourth and four in the fifth. Miller slapped a two-RBI single back up the middle to highlight the third inning, while Steven Williams hit a two-run shot to right field in the fourth. It was Williams' second home run of the season and 25th of his Auburn career.
 
After driving in another run to make it 11-0 through four, Miller came back around in the fifth, following a RBI single from Ryan Bliss earlier in the inning, and hit a three-run home run on top of the player development center in right field. The home run was Miller's 12th hit in his last 14 at-bats.
 
Boston College scored an unearned run on a passed ball in the sixth, but Rankin Woley got the run back with a solo home run to center field in the seventh. The home run was Woley's second of the season, and the graduate infielder turned in two hits for the second straight day.
 
Freshman right-hander Carson Swilling pitched 1.2 scoreless innings of relief, marking his third straight scoreless outing to start his Auburn career.
 
Swilling gave way to Hayden Mullins in the eighth, and the sophomore lefty turned in 2.0 scoreless innings, matching a career high by striking out four of the seven batters he faced.
 
Fifteen position players saw action in the contest, and four turned in two or more hits.
 
The rubber match between the top 25 foes is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. CT at Plainsman Park.

 

 

[ellitor 33,890]

 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

Dang......what a heartbreaking loss.

[WarEagle2423 357]

No words. That was just terrible. 

[tgrogan21 6,198]

An epic meltdown from our relievers in the final 2 innings. I honestly don't know why Coach kept Hill in after he had given up 3-4 straight hits.

[augolf1716 21,979]

damn cluster 9-1 lead and blow it

[auburndkel 100]

24 minutes ago, augolf1716 said:

damn cluster 9-1 lead and blow it

I watched every inning. How the hell can you blow a 9-1 lead in the 9th?  
Sickening

[AUpreacherman22 3,945]

That was humiliating!   🤦‍♂️😰😵

I’m going to crawl into a ball, eat a tub of ice cream, and watch Steel Magnolias and Dawson’s Creek reruns!🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️😵😵😵

[mustache eagle 2,454]

Bru...tal...

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

I bet this team will never forget it.....maybe it can be a lesson learned. 

[tgrogan21 6,198]

14 minutes ago, Tigerbelle said:

I bet this team will never forget it.....maybe it can be a lesson learned. 

I hope the coaches learn from it as well. I was not able to watch the game but I followed along with the livestats. I found it really weird when we pulled Skipper after only pitching against 2 batters and retiring both. I understand wanting to get some experience to the young guys but I feel like we've been rotating them a lot more frequently and I don't think that's the best thing to do when playing a ranked opponent.

[boomstick 1,315]

13 minutes ago, tgrogan21 said:

I hope the coaches learn from it as well. I was not able to watch the game but I followed along with the livestats. I found it really weird when we pulled Skipper after only pitching against 2 batters and retiring both. I understand wanting to get some experience to the young guys but I feel like we've been rotating them a lot more frequently and I don't think that's the best thing to do when playing a ranked opponent.

Skipper got hurt. He had some discomfort in his side so they took him out. Hopefully it’s just precautionary and he doesn’t miss any time. I firmly believe we win that game if he doesn’t get hurt. He probably throws two innings and Burkhalter goes two and finishes it out. 

I also wasn’t a fan of staying with Hill for the batter that he hit. He’d given up four single and two runs in six at bats, including three straight singles. IMO it was time to make a move because waiting and not recording an out out Thomas in a really rough spot. Now, he still needs to make pitches and get out of the inning, but bringing him in with the bases loaded is a lot tougher than with men on 1st and 2nd. I guarantee there is some second guessing of that decision. 

[boomstick 1,315]

The positives from this weekend are that we can swing the bats against quality pitching and that Barnett and Bright are two really promising looking starters. I’d venture to guess that even when Owen, Greenhill, and Fitts are fully healthy, those two will still be in the starting rotation. So that likely leaves Greenhill and Fitts as pieces to use as long relief/closers the rest of the way. Hopefully Skipper comes back healthy soon. 

[tgrogan21 6,198]

55 minutes ago, boomstick said:

Skipper got hurt. He had some discomfort in his side so they took him out. Hopefully it’s just precautionary and he doesn’t miss any time. I firmly believe we win that game if he doesn’t get hurt. He probably throws two innings and Burkhalter goes two and finishes it out.

Thanks for that. Now that I know that it's not AS bad because I was really questioning the decision to yank him after those two at bats. Hope that he's okay and that we can get some of our starters back soon. I also believe Greenhill should remain in the bullpen. Not because I believe that he's not good enough to start but I think he can help the team more by being an anchor in the bullpen.

[au302 2,669]

40 minutes ago, tgrogan21 said:

Thanks for that. Now that I know that it's not AS bad because I was really questioning the decision to yank him after those two at bats. Hope that he's okay and that we can get some of our starters back soon. I also believe Greenhill should remain in the bullpen. Not because I believe that he's not good enough to start but I think he can help the team more by being an anchor in the bullpen.

Completely agree. I was never quite sure about him as a starter, and while he's performed admirably in that role, it's clear that we need more experience in the back end of our bullpen. Barnett and Bright have looked really good, and I have confidence Owen will transition back in smoothly, or Fitts figures it out. But ideally, I think we get a rotation of Owen, Barnett, and Bright with Fitts being a long reliever/fourth starter and Bull coming in towards the end. Hopefully the team learns from today's embarrassing ending, and our coaches figure out how to utilize our pitchers to give us the best chance. I have full confidence they will. As unacceptable and bad as this was against a ranked opponent, I'd rather this happen pre-conference than in conference. That being said, that should almost never happen and I'm sure the staff will be the first to say that.

[ellitor 33,890]

17 hours ago, tgrogan21 said:

An epic meltdown from our relievers in the final 2 innings. I honestly don't know why Coach kept Hill in after he had given up 3-4 straight hits.

@tgrogan21 Or as another savy poster pointed out on the bunker, with under 70 pitches through 5 innings why didn't Butch let Trace pitch the 6th. If he had Cam may not even had to pitch at all in that game.

[ellitor 33,890]

13 hours ago, tgrogan21 said:

I also believe Greenhill should remain in the bullpen. Not because I believe that he's not good enough to start but I think he can help the team more by being an anchor in the bullpen.

@tgrogan21 It may be something we do out of necessity but there is a problem with it. Historically Bull has not been effective when he's had to pitch multiple times in a weekend.

[boomstick 1,315]

13 minutes ago, ellitor said:

@tgrogan21 Or as another savy poster pointed out on the bunker, with under 70 pitches through 5 innings why didn't Butch let Trace pitch the 6th. If he had Cam may not even had to pitch at all in that game.

I heard or read someone say Trace was on a pitch count. Having thrown 3 times in 12 days, I could see Butch and Tim wanting to limit his pitches a bit. But I thought he was strong enough to go 6. I do think it probably was planned out to have Bright go 5, Skipper go 2, and Burkhalter and everyone else finish the last two innings. If Skip goes his two, Blake probably finishes that game out or at least gets us into the 9th for someone else to come in.

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

Yesterday still stings. Good news is we absolutely dominated an SEC caliber team for about 20 out of 28 innings over the weekend. We'll figure out relief pitching depth, and should be in a much better spot in a few weeks. If you can just avoid being swept in the SEC and win the series you play at home, you'll be at LEAST 15-15 which makes you a contender for a regional host in the SEC. Still easily achievable, just got to stay mentally tough. 

[tgrogan21 6,198]

35 minutes ago, ellitor said:

@tgrogan21 Or as another savy poster pointed out on the bunker, with under 70 pitches through 5 innings why didn't Butch let Trace pitch the 6th. If he had Cam may not even had to pitch at all in that game.

Completely forgot about that as well. I remember following along and was like yeah, Trace is good to go through the 6th inning and then he got pulled. Was really confused about the decision. I still think the coaches are trying to rest the guys arms/get experience for the young people. I think that's okay during games when you're not playing a ranked team.

24 minutes ago, ellitor said:

@tgrogan21 It may be something we do out of necessity but there is a problem with it. Historically Bull has not been effective when he's had to pitch multiple times in a weekend.

Thanks for the info. I always thought he was fairly decent when pitching Friday and then Sunday but I could be misremembering.

 

With all that's been said, I've seen on Twitter some people talking about how we suck and it's just another year of Butch being a disappointment. Which is a stupid opinion. It's still early in the year and we've seen we can hang with ranked teams without a couple of our starters. We have the ability to absolutely dismantle a pitching staff but just have to consistently do it. Still a very long season ahead of us.

[OlderWhiskey 997]

We were supposed to play Xavier this weekend.  Are we better off for having played BC, or would we have profited more from playing Xavier?  Or the third option, playing no one?  

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

50 minutes ago, OlderWhiskey said:

We were supposed to play Xavier this weekend.  Are we better off for having played BC, or would we have profited more from playing Xavier?  Or the third option, playing no one?  

I think you take what happened this weekend over the others. You dominated an SEC caliber team for 20 out of 28 innings on the weekend. You've got to take some solace in the fact that you scored a bunch of runs and pitched pretty well overall. It would've been great to have won the series, but at the end of the year, one single game shouldn't be a huge deal unless we are squarely on the bubble. 

This may damage the psyche of the team for the time being, but you've got to think it prepares them for the next time something like that happens. I can just about guarantee you there won't be too many more blown saves for this team when up 8 in the last inning. 

You can obviously hang with, beat, and dominate an SEC caliber team. Realize that, flush Sunday, and now do it. 

AU could really use a 4-0 week this week, and a 5-0 slate going into Ole Miss. Do that, and you're 12-4 going into SEC with 30 SEC games and 9 Non-Conference games remaining. 

If you go 15-15 in the league, that's 27 wins. Take care of business in the non-conference (7-8 wins) and you're looking at a 34-35 win team with the SEC Tourney still to play. AU can still be a host, but will need to do very well in the SEC now, like probably 17-13 or so. 

[ellitor 33,890]

1 hour ago, OlderWhiskey said:

We were supposed to play Xavier this weekend.  Are we better off for having played BC, or would we have profited more from playing Xavier?  Or the third option, playing no one?  

@OlderWhiskey BC hands down even with the tough loss yesterday. Barring a big collapse  from them in conference play they will be in the top 20-25 in the RPI all year long. They are #7 right now. Xavier doesn't have the schedule to be able to have the resume impact BC does.