Baseball's Road Trip Continues Tuesday with a Stop in Homewood

Josh Anthony (Photo: Auburn Athletics/Wade Rackley)

Auburn Baseball (24-10, 8-4 SEC) continues their eight-game road trip Tuesday night by stopping in Homewood to battle the Samford Bulldogs (19-13, 2-4 SoCon) at Joe Lee Griffin Field. This game is a return trip for Auburn. Samford traveled to Auburn on February 28 and earned the 7-6 win at Plainsman Park. The Bulldogs jumped on Auburn early, by scoring six quick runs in the top of the first inning. The Tigers pulled within one run in the bottom of the fourth inning beginning with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Will Holland and ending with a Daniel Robert three- RBI double to cut the game to 6-5. Samford scored their final run in the seventh inning on a single before Dylan Ingram hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 7-6. Daniel Robert was the key bat in the game, going 3-for-4 with three RBI. Auburn enters the game on a two-game skid following a series loss at Texas A&M over the weekend. The Tigers took the opening game of the series, 2-1, thanks to another solid outing from Sophomore Casey Mize. Mize pitched seven innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out 12 on 113 pitches. Jay Estes scored Auburn’s only runs on a third-inning double, scoring Will Holland and Damon Haecker. Texas A&M made a late push in the bottom of the ninth with a Joel Davis solo home run off of Cole Lipscomb, cutting the lead in half. Andrew Mitchell closed the game, giving Auburn the win. Auburn got off to a hot start on Saturday with a three-run shot by Blake Logan in the top of the first inning, but the Aggies added runs throughout the game and ultimately pulled out the win, 6-3. Texas A&M’s Braden Shewmake played a key role in Sunday’s rubber match, by sending home two of the Aggies’ three runs in a 3-1 win, giving Texas A&M the series. The series loss was the first for Auburn of the season, who now sits at 24-10 overall. Auburn also earned their eighth SEC win of the season on Friday, which matches last season’s win total. Samford has played two conference series thus far, recently getting swept by Mercer in Macon last weekend. Despite the series loss, sophomore Taylor Garris was named Southern Conference player of the week on Monday. In four games against Alabama A&M and Mercer, Garris hit .667 (10-for-15), with four RBI, two home runs, and a stolen base. Against Auburn on February 28, Garris was 2-for-5 with a RBI. Garris currently leads the team in average (.387). Kevin Williams Jr leads the team in home runs (10), doubles (8), and is tied with the team lead in RBI with Austin Edens (24), TJ Dixon leads in hits (44). Through 34 games, Jonah Todd and Daniel Robert continue to lead all major categories. Todd is batting .341 and has scored 28 times. Robert leads in RBI with 26 and has seven stolen bases in seven opportunities. Jay Estes has the team lead in doubles with 11. Regular mid-week starter Christian Camacho returns to the mound Tuesday for Auburn after taking last Tuesday off. In his last start, the freshman allowed two runs in 3.1 innings of work in the Capital City Classic win over Alabama. Tristan Widra gets the nod for Samford, which will be his first start of the season. In 12 appearances, Widra is 1-2 with 26 strikeouts and a 3.00 ERA. Auburn visits Samford Tuesday, first pitch is scheduled for 6 P.M.