AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn launched a pair of home runs in the second inning including a two-out grand slam from Edouard Julien and held off a late rally from No. 23 Vanderbilt for an 11-5 series-clinching victory on Saturday afternoon at Plainsman Park.
The Commodores (25-21, 11-12 SEC) erased a two-run deficit on three-straight hits to begin the second inning including a leadoff solo home run from Ty Duvall and an RBI-single from Stephen Scott to score Ethan Paul (double), knotting things at two-all.
The Tigers (33-14, 12-11 SEC) answered immediately, however, in the home half as Brendan Venter belted his first home run of the season to left center. Six batters later, after loading the bases with two down, Julien unloaded on 1-1 pitch to clear the bases.
Auburn tacked on one courtesy of a groundout in the fifth but the Commodores made things interesting in the sixth, sending eight hitters to the plate while scoring three times including the first two on sacrifice flies off the bat of Ty Duvall and Ethan Paul.
The Dores, who put the first two aboard on a Philip Clarke single and Pat DeMarco double, continued to add on with two down as Garrett Blaylock tagged a double to score Scott (walk) and trim the deficit to 8-5.
Vandy had its opportunities to tack on further as Julian Infante flew out. An inning later, Austin Martin led off with a single and took third with one down on an errant pickoff attempt. After Duvall walked, however, the Dores stranded two as Paul grounded back to the pitcher.
Raby (2-5) drew the loss, allowing a career-high seven earned runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out as many in just two innings. Zach King followed, holding the Tigers to one run on two hits while striking out three and walking three across three innings.
Auburn starter Tanner Burns (4-4) picked up the win, permitting four earned runs on five hits while walking a pair and striking out five. Offensively, the Tigers produced 13 hits including three from Estes who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Julien turned in a 2-for-4 outing with four RBIs and a run while eight-hole hitter Conor Davis added two RBIs and finished 1-for-3.
Eight different Commodores tallied one hit including Duvall who contributed two RBIs and reached base twice while going 1-for-2 with a run. Paul and Scott both finished 1-for-2 with an RBI while Blaylock went 1-for-4 with an RBI in his first-career start.
The teams close the three-game series on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Vandy sends right-hander Mason Hickman (7-1, 3.78 ERA) to the mound. Auburn has not announced its starter.
The game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus and can be heard on the vucommodores app as well as locally on WNSR 560 AM/95.9 FM with Joe Fisher on the call.
