Auburn baseball, Ike Irish walks off Lipscomb in game two
Auburn baseball came back to walkoff Lipscomb, 12-11, on an Ike Irish bases-loaded single with the bases loaded on Saturday evening.
Here's what you need to know about the series win over the Bisons:
Auburn needs Joseph Gonzalez to be 100% for conference play
Against a Lipscomb team that hit a bunch of solo homeruns on Friday night, Auburn once again had long balls on the menu. And unlike Friday night, these weren't solo shots.
Lispcomb hit four homeruns in the game, scoring eight of their twelve runs via the longball. The damage was spread evenly, with starter Christian Herberholz getting tagged for three runs, Konner Copeland getting tagged for two, and Chase Isbell giving up three runs via homerun.
Herberholz, on his 2nd consecutive start in place of the rehabbing Joseph Gonzalez, struggled to keep the ball down and his final line reflected that: 3IP w/ 6H, 4ER, 1BB, and 2Ks on 60 pitches (34 strikes).
Herberholz has great velocity - his fastball consistently sat 93-95 - but it isn't consistently staying down in the zone and therefore gets rocked. The slider is mostly horizontal sweep, with just enough vertical drop to complicate things for a hitter, but he struggled to locate it tonight and frequently got behind in the count, allowing Lipscomb to sit on the fastball and turn the batter's box into a launching pad.
Copeland, coming in to open the 4th, quickly got to two outs but then gave up four consecutive hits, one of them being a homerun, before being lifted for Chase Isbell.
The inning ended up being worth six runs on six hits for the Bisons, who had sixteen total hits on the night.
Nate LaRue's defense really IS that valuable
LaRue, only 3-21 on the season entering Saturday, originally received the night off, being replaced by Ryan Dyal behind the plate. He was sent in as a pinch hitter after Chase Isbell, coming in to get the final out of the 4th, gave up a single and homerun before finally getting out of the inning via a groundout.
Said Thompson after the game, "We brought LaRue back in the ball game - I thought we gave our plate away. They scored six runs with two outs and just a ton of cripple pitches. That's my biggest concern."
Thompson noticed there was an immediate improvement once LaRue got behind the plate, "Chase Isbell, he was part of the six-run inning with two outs and then, all of a sudden, (once LaRue entered the game) the slider got set beneath the hitters and the fastball got a little length. I do want to credit Nate with some of that and getting us back into a rhythm, getting our plate back. We started going in(side) a little bit and creating a little bit of discomfort, but I think we really lowered our stuff, pitched into 'em a little bit more."
The "Bryson Ware renaissance" is REAL
Third baseman Bryson Ware continued his torrid start to the season, going 3-5 with two runs and three RBIs on two doubles and a LASER of a homerun - traveling 411 feet off the scoreboard in left-center, it left the bat on an extremely shallow 16 degree angle at 107 mph - that tied the ballgame in the 8th. Said Ware about the homerun, "It was one of the ones you just don't really feel off the bat. I didn't know if it was gone or not - kind of stood up at second base, I thought it was a double, but thankfully it made its way over the wall, barely. It felt pretty good."
Speaking after the game, Ware credited the victory to the ability of the lineup to continue fighting, even after Lipscomb fought back and took the lead, "The whole lineup had to link up. One through nine, we have to put it together and stay in the fight. It's easy - when you give up the lead like that, it's easy to give up. But our lineup stayed in the fight tonight and, thankfully, it worked out for us."
Ware has five homeruns in the last seven games, batting .545 with the five homeruns, six doubles, and 14 RBIs on the season.
Irish reiterated Ware's message, explaining that it kind of backed up to smaller steps, "The big emphasis with that was we just need base runners. When you're down, in later innings, you just have to find a way to get on base no matter what - drag bunt, push bunt, just get on base. Just not trying to do too much. A lot of guys, when the moment gets big, everybody wants the big swing. But the big important thing is just to find a way on and not trying to do too much. Stay within yourself."
Ike Irish is HIM
Tied in the bottom of the 9th, Auburn loaded the bases early with no outs. Justin Kirby came up and, after a prolonged battle, eventually struck out.
That just meant it was Ike Irish's turn to shine.
The true freshman roped the second pitch he saw for a walkoff single, scoring pinch-runner Josh Hall from 3rd and promptly getting mobbed between 1st and 2nd by the entire team.
Said Irish after the game, "I was thinking, the bigger the moment, the smaller my swing. I just thought I had to put a ball in play here and good things happened."
Cooper McMurray injury update
McMurray left the game in the 4th, being replaced by Brody Wortham. Cooper awkwardly stepped on the side of the 1st base bag after a putout and injured his lower leg. Reportedly, on-site x-rays were negative but due to swelling, he was in a walking boot after the game and was being taken for further medical testing. It's unknown how long he'll be out of the lineup, but he will almost assuredly miss tomorrow's game as they wait for further clarity as to the severity of the foot/ankle injury.
What's next?
Auburn goes for the sweep on Sunday, starting freshman left-handed pitcher Zach Crotchfelt against Lispcomb graduate righty Braydon Tucker. First pitch is at 1PM, and will be televised on SEC Network+. The radio call, with Brad Law and Voice of the Tigers Andy Burcham, is available locally on 95.9 FM and online at AuburnTigers.com.
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