AUBURN, Ala. (EETV)- A three-double night, including his 200th career hit, from Kason Howell helped the Tigers pick up the first in a three-game series with the Bison.
The Auburn Tigers (7-1-1) picked up a 7-3 win over the Lipscomb Bison (5-4).
"Great all the way around," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. "We had a 45-minute rain delay, and I thought our guys were ready to play and needed to be. It’s back-to-back weeks where it felt like the Friday night was an SEC Friday night.”
Tanner Bauman got the start for Auburn, but only logged 3.2 innings in which he allowed one run off of four hits, walked one batter and struck out five. John Armstrong provided 2.1 innings of relief and picked up the win for the Tigers, allowing one run off of two hits and striking four batters out. Chase Allsup pitched the final three innings and earned his first save of the season. Allsusp allowed one run off of one hit, walked two batters, and struck out five.
Michael Dunkelberger got the start for Lipscomb and ended up taking the loss. Dunkelberger pitched four innings in which he allowed four runs off of five hits, walked two batters, and struck out six. Alex Brewer provided 2.2 innings of relief in which he allowed three runs off of five hits, walked one batter, and struck out three. Hayden Frank pitched the final 1.1 innings for the Bison, allowing no runs, one hit, one batter walked, and one K.
Auburn wasted no time offensively, as Cole Foster singled up the middle to bring home Kason Howell in the bottom of the first inning.
Lipscomb tied it up in the top of the third inning when Alec Gonzalez hit a solo home run to left field.
The Tigers took control in the fourth inning, however, as Bryson Ware hit a solo home run to center field and Howell hit a double that allowed Caden Green and Cooper McMurray to score, putting Auburn up 4-1.
Austin Kelly tried to give the Bison some momentum by hitting a solo home run to right -enter in the top of the sixth inning. Nate LaRue had other ideas as he singled to left field in the bottom of that inning to score Chris Stanfield and keep the Tigers up three.
Auburn tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning when Stanfield doubled to left field to score Ike Irish and Justin Kirby, extending the lead tp five.
Kelly tried to generate some momentum for Lipscomb again by hitting another solo home run to right field, but it was not enough as Auburn held on to secure the four-run win in the first game of the series.
The first pitch for game two is set for 4:00 p.m. tomorrow and first pitch for game three is set for 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.
