AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) – Fresh faces gave Auburn a fresh start to the season, as the Tigers squeaked by Youngstown State 2-1 in their season opener.
In the world of baseball, pitching is always ahead of hitting at the beginning of the season. But, the pitching featured in this bout was especially impressive for both teams, keeping the offenses completely silent with a combined 29 strikeouts and just three runs allowed.
Transfer Jake Marciona made his debut for the Tigers, and it was a debut many will remember as he struck out 12 Youngstown batters in his short 5.0 innings of work. He paired those strikeouts with zero walks, two hits, and one run, a solo shot by the Penguins' Brady Shannon in the 4th.
Auburn’s bullpen entered the season with the bar set high, and they jumped right over it. Transfer Drew Whalen went three scoreless, fanning three and allowing no hits. Whalen got into a little trouble in the 9th and was pulled in the middle of an at-bat after giving up a walk and hit batter to his previous two hitters.
Garrett Brewer was then called on in a huge spot with runners on second and third and no outs. But, like every other transfer making their debut for the Tigers, Brewer bore down and went to work, striking out his first two batters and ending the game on a fly ball to center.
“It was awesome,” said Brewer postgame. “Every situation is kinda the same. Just throw strikes and get out.”
Auburn’s offense scratched its first run of the season, capitalizing on errors from the Youngstown defense. Chris Rembert made the Penguins pay, driving a single to left field, scoring Ethin Bingamin. Bingamin reached on an error from first baseman Nick Miscavage advanced to second on a passed ball from Caleb Hadley.
The Tigers took the lead in the 8th inning off back-to-back base hits, a leadoff double from Eric Guevara and a single from Chase Fralick. That one-run lead would be all that Auburn needed to win the pitching duel.
Coming into a season where most of the questions were about the pitching staff, Marciona, Whalen and Brewer did their best to answer those questions, making a powerful statement to open the season. With games two and three yet to be played, no one knows just how the rest of the rotation will perform, but if it’s half as good as Marciona, Auburn will be in good shape on the mound.
“That felt like midseason type stuff,” said Head Coach Butch Thompson. “I’ve got a bunch of emotions. But, I think the overriding emotion is that a game like that can absolutely crystallize some things for you and you can learn and grow from and it's a benefit.”
More questions will be answered on Saturday, Feb. 14 for game two against Youngstown State at Plainsman Park. Thompson has given the nod to sophomore Jackson Sanders, with Alex Petrovic set for game three on Sunday.
