Auburn 13, Binghamton 2: Tigers take rubber match

Auburn moved to 2-1 on the year, defeating Binghamton 13-2 on Sunday in the rubber match of the season's opening series. Jordan Ebert was 3-for-3 with two walks, three runs and three RBIs, Bo Decker also drove in three and Damon Haecker scored three times in the rout.

Tiger starter Rocky McCord looked mostly good in his return to the Plainsman Park bump. He had one brief rough patch in the third when he threw nine straight balls, walking two Bearcats, but was usually spotting his pitches well and got five innings of one-run (unearned) ball under his belt. He left having allowed three hits and three walks, and struck out four. Robby Clements threw the three innings after that, giving up one run of his own in the seventh, though by that point he was already in line for the win.

Auburn didn't manage to hit the ball out of the infield until the fourth inning. They'd had only two runners to that point: two walks in the first that were left on base. They again put two on in the fourth, via an error (the first of three by BU) and their first base-hit of the day, only to leave empty handed again following a double play.

Binghamton starter Rob Hardy pitched through the fifth, giving up just the one hit, two walks and striking out five. He left with a 1-0 lead. The Bearcats' four final pitchers allowed all 13 runs in their three innings of work.

Eight of the first nine Auburn batters in the sixth reached base via a wild combination of walks, HBPs, an error and only two hits. Four would eventually come around to score. Decker drove in two with a double in the next inning, and scored on pinch-hitter J.J. Shaffer's single.

The game was finally blown wide open in the eighth when Auburn tacked on their final six runs in another nightmare inning for a Binghamton reliever.

Auburn ended the day with 11 hits (three for extra bases), seven walks and was hit by three pitches and benefited from three errors.

Next up for the Tigers is a trip to Mobile on Tuesday night to take on South Alabama (2-0, pending Sunday's result), before returning home to face Alabama State (1-1, pending Sunday's game) on Wednesday. Neither will be broadcast for TV, but will have a radio stream available online.