TAKEAWAYS: Auburn baseball wins game one against Indiana

Auburn wins the season opener behind a big night from freshman Ike Irish and transfer Justin Kirby

Lindsay Crosby | Feb 17, 2023

TAKEAWAYS: Auburn baseball wins game one against Indiana /

Auburn kicked the 2023 season off with a bang, defeating Indiana 8-4 inside a chilly Plainsman Park. Here's what this victory means for Auburn baseball

Ike Irish is the real deal

The true freshman, starting tonight at DH, finished the night with three hits and an RBI. "It was awesome to get out there and play someone we don't know. We were well prepared for this one and we went out and executed."

🚨 Spoiler alert 🚨@ikeirish18 is good at hitting baseballs.

B5 | Auburn 7, Indiana 4 pic.twitter.com/AVpzK2SddN
— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) February 18, 2023

When asked about the cold, Irish, a Michigan native, admitted that the weather may have given him a slight advantage. "This is short sleeve weather for me and it felt, honestly, like a day in May in Michigan."

The highly touted MLB prospect turned down high-dollar offers to be at Auburn, and he wasn't fazed by his first taste of baseball in the SEC. "It was another day in paradise."

Auburn's bullpen is legit

After a night where Auburn's starter, Chase Allsup, left the game after only two innings with two runs allowed and his "piggyback", Tanner Bauman, left the game with two on and two out in the 5th, Auburn's bullpen took the baton and shut it down.

Sidearmer John Armstrong set a career high with 3.1 innings, allowing no hits or runs with one walk and three strikeouts. The sophomore righty had every weapon in his toolbox working, with the two-seam fastball flashing plenty of armside run and the "frisbee" slider proving just as unhittable as ever, Armstrong went through 11 batters in just 48 pitches, averaging less than five pitches per plate appearance.

When asked after the game about setting a new career-long outing, Armstrong said it was a mutual decision between him and the coaches. "I felt good. Coach Rock was making sure I was all right, and I said I was, so they wanted me to roll out and I wanted the same."

Armstrong's ability to go longer and "eat innings" was something that will help the bullpen later in the series, said head coach Butch Thompson. "We needed to keep Armstrong in there for his longest outing of his career because they were taking the swings I wanted them to. As long as he was gonna put it in the strike zone, I felt comfortable that we could play defense and we had to [...] If we take him out there and we have six outs to cover..."

“When Bauman entered the game and when Armstrong entered the game, those were both momentum creators on defense,” Thompson said postgame. “That’s what you want to see out of a pitching staff. We’re going to give up more than four runs playing in our league. You want to clean up that fifth inning, but whenever you’re on defense you want to create momentum. Both of those guys did that tonight."

𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲@ikeirish18 🤝 @j_armstrong41 #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/JsykKsEuzq
— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) February 18, 2023

Junior college transfer Will Cannon came in and finished off the side in the 9th for his first appearance as an Auburn Tiger, and Thompson was happy that he had an opportunity to finish the game. "It was nice to be able to get a guy in a game when he hadn't been in our uniform before, I thought that was huge for Cannon."

Cannon's stuff was impressive - coming from an unusually high slot, his mid-90s fastballs seems to explode out of the hand - he struck out two in his one inning of work and none of the five hitters he faced ever felt comfortable.

Indiana finished the game 5 for 33 with four walks, twelve strikeouts, and one extra base hit - a 2nd inning home run.

Don't be concerned about the starting pitching

Chase Allsup only lasted two innings in his Auburn debut, but as Thompson reminded everyone after the game: "We're trying to win."

"We have to be selfless. Chase Allsup has to be selfless - there's going to be nights where I think he could absolutely run through a lineup three times and get it going and lay those tracks, but it's nice to know someone's got your back when it may not be your night."

When asked what was the deciding factor in removing Allsup early, Thompson explained it was the traffic on the basepaths in the first two innings. "I believe in Chase, and I wish he could have gone a couple more, but I wasn't really interested in that second time through the lineup. I thought that we'd had five base runners right there at a 2-0 count a couple of times, and the home run was a 2-0 count on the catcher (Matthew Ellis)."

Auburn's offense did...enough

Auburn may have scored eight runs in the game, but it wasn't exactly midseason form for Thompson and the staff. "The eleven strikeouts are in my head because I thought the two relievers were nice pitchers, but I did not think they were 'break you down, swing and miss' - I didn't like our comfort with two strikes. I thought we [...] chased a little bit and didn't have the at-bats that we desired and those three walks and a homerun, (Justin) Kirby did." Auburn batters finished the game 11-36 with seven walks and the eleven strikeouts.

The best hit ball of the night was a 7th inning fly ball to deep right field by LF Bobby Pierce that was caught on the warning track, a ball that probably carries for a homerun on a night that's warmer than 39 degrees.

As Irish put it after the game, "We don't let the moment get too big, and I thought we proved that out on the field. We got punched in the mouth early and then it took a team effort. Everybody passed it down great, and we came back and responded. I thought it, for us, it just felt like we were going out there and we were doing everything that we practiced."

Justin Kirby will be a force for Auburn baseball

The Kent State transfer made his presence felt, going 1-2 with a two-run homerun over the Monster that wasn't actually hit that well, as well as three walks.

HIGH AND DEEP! 💣

Welcome to the squad, @jkirbs15.

B4 | Auburn 6, Indiana 2 pic.twitter.com/2UOUTqCFu2
— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) February 17, 2023

'The home run was huge at the time he hit it."

What's next?

Auburn looks to win the series on Saturday, with ace RHP Joseph Gonzalez facing off against senior LHP Ty Bothwell. First pitch is at 2PM. The broadcast is on SEC Network+ and the radio call with Brad Law can be heard on AuburnTigers.com or locally on 93.9 FM.