Wednesday recap: Auburn scores 33, bad news for 'Bama, Vandy's new arms

Auburn sets a school record for runs, 'Bama's Prelipp is sidelined and Vandy's new arms show out

Photo credit: Auburn athletics (pictured: Tyler Miller)

Here's what happened in and around Southeastern Conference baseball on Tuesday

Auburn scores a school-record 33 runs

Auburn scored a school record 33 runs in its win over Alabama A&M on Wednesday at Plainsman Park. The previous record was 32 runs against Troy on March 2, 1994.

By comparison, the Auburn football team only scored 30 points in a game four times last season against Arkansas, Ole Miss, LSU and Tennessee. 

The 33 runs scored are the most by an SEC baseball team since Arkansas hung 32 runs on Bucknell in 2018. 

Shortstop Brody Moore went 4-for-6 with two runs scored, two doubles and seven RBIs. He had a sac fly and two-run double in the fifth inning and then recorded RBI singles in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

Ironically, Moore’s father, Brandon, was the starting shortstop in the 32-run game against Troy on March 2, 1994. The elder Moore went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, one home run and three RBIs. Auburn advanced to the College World Series that season.

Against Alabama A&M, Auburn had 13 players score at least one run, 12 players record at least one hit and 11 players drive in at least one run. 

After being held scoreless in the first two innings, Auburn scored all 33 runs over the final six innings, including a 14-run outburst in the fourth inning. The Tigers sent 17 batters to the plate and scored 14 runs on eight hits, five walks, two hit batters, one ground out and one sac fly. Steven Williams and Tyler Miller combined for four hits and six RBIs in the inning. Williams went 2-for-2 with one double and three RBIs, while Miller was 2-for-2 with a home run and three RBIs.

One of the strangest parts about the Tigers' outburst was that Miller's homer was the only one Auburn hit. The Tigers had an absurd batting average on balls in play of .681.

Six Auburn pitchers combined a three-hit shutout, with 13 strikeouts. Freshman right-hander Jack Sokol tossed four scoreless innings with six strikeouts for the win in his collegiate debut.

Alabama's Prelipp sidelined

Alabama All-American left-hander Connor Prielipp will miss the weekend series with Wright State due to a “medical condition”, according to Tuscaloosa News reporter Brett Hudson. 

Prielipp has not allowed a run in 26 innings during his collegiate career. He tossed five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in the win over McNeese last Friday. 

Hudson reported that UA head coach Brad Bohannon will start Tyler Ras, Antoine Jean and Dylan Smith on the mound against the Raiders. Ras struggled in a three-inning relief stint against McNeese in the season opener last Friday. He allowed six runs and seven hits his season debut.

Vandy debuts new arms

Right-hander Christian Little, who started in last year's Perfect Game All-American classic, made his collegiate debut on Tuesday. Little, who skipped his senior season of high school ball to enroll at Vanderbilt in January, struck out one and gave up one unearned run in three innings as Vanderbilt beat Western Kentucky, 12-1, in Nashville.

Four other Commodore freshmen--Hunter Owen, Grayson Moore, Miles Garrett and Patrick Reilly--also pitched for the first time in college, Those four combined for five shutout innings with eight strikeouts. 

Vanderbilt senior lefty Hugh Fisher also pitched for the first time since 2019. Fisher, expected to be a key part of the Commodore bullpen, seems to have re-gained his mid-90s velocity after undergoing Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2019. Fisher struck out two in a perfect inning. 

First baseman Dominic Keegan slammed a three-run homer, the first of his career, for the Commodores. 

UT-Martin ends 21-year drought

UT Martin defeated Alabama 9-4 in Tuscaloosa. It was the Skyhawk's first win over an SEC team since an 8-5 victory at Ole Miss on March 28, 2000. It was the third win in program history against an SEC team. UTM is now 3-60 all-time vs. SEC teams with win over Vanderbilt (1995), Ole Miss (2000) and Alabama (2021).

UTM first baseman Ethan Whitley and right fielder Wil Lafollette launched back-to-back homers in the eighth inning to put the Skyhawks in the lead. Whitley’s two-run homer snapped a 4-4 tie and LaFollette followed with a solo homer to make to 7-4. 

UTM shortstop Casey Harford went 3-for-5 with two runs, one double, one triple and three RBIs. He added some insurance with a ninth-inning RBI triple.

Big Orange crush

Tennessee scored 35 runs in its two-game sweep of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. After winning to series opener 21-1, Tennessee posted a 14-6 win in Wednesday’s finale. 

The Vols scored 19 runs in consecutive innings over the two-game set. UT scored 11 runs in its final at-bat in the bottom of the on Tuesday and began Wednesday’s game by scoring eight runs in the bottom of first inning.

Jake Rucker had a two-run triple and Luc Lipcius smacked a two-run homer in the 8-run first inning.

Evan Russell and Trey Lipscomb were a combined 5-for-8 with five runs scored, one home run and four RBIs from the seven and spots in the batting order. Lipscomb stroked a three-run homer in the fourth inning.

Tennessee (5-0) is 20-2 over the last two seasons. UT was 15-2 last season before the season was cancelled. The Vols look to extend its 6-game winning streak with a four-game series against Indiana State this weekend.

Pasqua perfect, notches first win in two years

Georgia redshirt junior right-hander Darryn Pasqua tossed four perfect innings in Georgia’s 6-2 win at Georgia State. He retried all 12 batters he faced, with five strikeouts, five ground outs and two fly outs. It was his second appearance this season he allowed one run on three hits with four strikeouts against Dayton this weekend. 

Pasqua picked up his first win since the Bulldogs record-setting 20-inning win over Clemson on April 16, 2019. He logged five scoreless innings and fanned seven in the win over Clemson.

Georgia (4-1) started and finished the game with a pair of two-run home runs. Corey Collins hit a two-run home run in the first inning and Riley King added a two-run home run in the ninth inning.

Around the rest of the SEC

Ole Miss and Mississippi State both played their home openers on Wednesday. Ole Miss defeated Arkansas State 12-1, while Mississippi State beat Jackson State 7-3.

First baseman Cael Baker and right fielder John Ryhs Plumlee both hit two-run homer runs for the Rebels. Plumlee, who plays quarterback on the Rebels football team, capped the scoring for the Rebels. Sophomore right hander Drew McDaniel set the tone on the mound with eight strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. The Rebels used five pitchers and combined for 18 strikeouts.

Mississippi State took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against Jackson State, but the win was far from clean. MSU made two errors and the pitching staff combined for four wild pitches. The miscues led to all three runs for the Tigers. MSU shortstop Kamren James was the hitting star, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored, one double, one home run and four RBIs.

LSU played its best game of the season in an 11-2 win at Louisiana. A pair of freshmen pitchers Garrett Edwards and Will Hellmers combined to limit UL Lafayette to one run through the first five innings. Edwards allowed one run and three hits in three innings with four strikeouts. Hellmers worked two perfect innings with a pair of strikeouts.

“The story of the game was the two freshmen pitchers, Edwards and Hellmers.” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “Garrett got us off to a great start, and Will looked fantastic in his two innings. Getting an early lead really helped both of those guys and allowed them to challenge the hitters.”

Left fielder Gavin Dugas and second baseman Cade Doughty had three hits each for the Tigers.

Preseason All-American Jud Fabian slugged two home runs to lead Florida to a 9-3 win over North Florida in Gainesville. Fabian went 2-for-4 with two home runs and five RBIs as the Gators completed the midweek sweep of the Ospreys. Fabian hit a solo home run in the third inning and belted a three-run home run in the fifth.

Texas A&M avoided another loss with a 7-6 walk-off win in 10 innings over NCAA Division I newcomer Tarleton State. Centerfielder Jordan Thompson delivered the walk-off single in the bottom of the 10^th inning. The Aggies trailed 5-1 in the fourth inning but rallied to take a 7-5 lead. Tarleton State scored twice in the ninth inning to force extra innings.

Arkansas plays its home opener on Thursday when the Razorbacks open a four-game series with Southeast Missouri State.