Auburn 4, Tennessee 2: Tigers claim series, going for sweep on Sunday

Freshman Keegan Thompson was masterful on the mound again, and Auburn defeated Tennessee, 4-2, Saturday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Tigers claimed the series win and will have a chance at a sweep in the Sunday finale.

Auburn (17-7, 4-1 SEC) is now 2-for-2 in winning SEC series this year. Damon Haecker drove in two runs with a 2-for-4 day, and Dan Glevenyak (2-for-4, one run, one RBI) and Damek Tomscha (1-for-5, one RBI) also put the Tigers on the board. Jordan Ebert continued his hot hitting, going 3-for-5.

Sunny Golloway's club opened the scoring in the second. Ryan Tella reached second to start the inning thanks to an infield single and a throwing error. Tella advanced to third on a Blake Logan ground out, and after a Blake Logan pop out, he scored on a Haecker single. Auburn doubled its lead in the fourth when Logan, who led off with a double, scored on a throwing error.

The insurance runs came in the seventh. With runners at first and second and one out, Sam Gilliken scored on a Glevenyak triple, and Ebert was thrown out at home. Yak scored on a Tomscha bunt single. Tomscha was thrown out at the plate on a Ryan Tella double to end the inning.

Tennessee (18-4, 2-3) did all of its scoring in the bottom of the eighth. Scott Price led off with a double, and he came around two batters later when Nick Senzel grounded out to second. Will Maddox scored on a Christin Stewart single.

Thompson (5-0) went 7 1/3 strong innings, allowing a run on five hits and two walks while striking out two. Terrance Dedrick picked up the save for the second game in a row, but this one was much more straight forward. Dedrick retired the side in order with two Ks to close out the ninth.

Hunter Martin (2-2) took the loss for Tennessee. He gave up two runs, seven hits and two walks in six innings. Martin struck out two.

Auburn will try for the sweep Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. Justin Camp is set to take the mound for the Tigers.