BYU vs. Auburn game 1 box score

AUBURN, Alabama (March 2, 2018)—No. 18 Auburn used the bat of Edouard Julien and its pitchers to defeat BYU 4-3 Friday night and remain unbeaten at 10-0.

Julien belted a three-run homer in the second and hit a sacrifice fly for the eventual winning run in the fourth inning to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead to the delight of Auburn partisans in the crowd of 3,401.

“Our guys did a great job tonight scratching and clawing for nine innings,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “Casey Mize was just as advertised. He sat in the mid 90's and tonight he had three other quality pitches he was locating.

“Our hitters did a great job making adjustments and Brennon (Anderson) broke the ice with his double in the sixth. Jordan (Wood) gave us a decent start, but as a staff we need to limit our mistakes.”

After Julien’s dinger, BYU got out of the inning with a double play after Nate Favero caught a liner and doubled up the Tiger runner who couldn’t return to first in time.

Favero hit a fastball away for a two-run double to left-center, closing the gap to 4-3 in the sixth inning. That rally started when Mitch McIntyre got aboard on a fielding error at first base.

Brennon Anderson’s double over the centerfielder’s head sparked the Cougars.  McIntyre and Anderson scored when Keaton Kringlen hit an RBI single to left field, making the score 4-1. Kringlen’s liner chased All-American Casey Mize from the mound.

Mize, a probable first-round draft pick, handcuffed the Cougars with nine strikeouts and ended up the winning pitcher to give him a 3-0 record. Auburn’s second relief pitcher, Calvin Coker, earned his second save, but not before a ninth-inning scare.

“A mental error in the ninth took the wind out of our sails a little bit and that's frustrating, but we need to have a short memory and come out ready to play in the morning,” Littlewood said.

Designated hitter Jake Brown had gotten on base from the third Tiger fielding error of the night.  Pinch-runner Cam Richins advanced to second after a misread sign led to a sacrifice bunt, which was the second out of the final frame.

The Cougars, 5-4, have a doubleheader rematch Saturday at Auburn starting at noon CST.

Game Notes

A first-ever matchup at No. 18 Auburn in Alabama and BYU baseball on Friday starts a three-game series between the Tigers and Cougars.

Auburn is 9-0 after upsetting No. 11 South Alabama earlier this week and BYU has a 5-3 record.

“This trip will be a great experience for our program and a real test for our team,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “I really respect Coach Thompson and what he's done in a short amount of time at Auburn. We know they will be well coached and we will have to play our best to compete with this team.

“We will see three power arms and a probable first rounder in Casey Mize. We are just really excited to play a quality SEC opponent and hope to gain valuable experience from the trip.”

BYU junior right-hander Jordan Wood (0-0, 2.25) will start on the mound in Friday’s game at 5 p.m. CST.  Senior lefty Hayden Rogers (2-0, 3.65) will start at noon in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Lefty transfer Kenny Saenz (0-1, 10.80) is scheduled to start in Saturday’s nightcap.

All three BYU games at Auburn will be broadcast live locally by ESPN Radio 960 and streamed on its website.  Friday’s game will have a live video stream on ESPN3 (the SEC Network-Plus). Only Friday's game will also have a live audio stream through BYU Radio-Sirius XM 143.

Auburn and No. 8 Stanford (8-0) are the only remaining undefeated teams on BYU’s schedule.  Coming into this week, the Cougars were ranked by one national poll as having the No. 1 strength of schedule and ratings percentage index (RPI) in the NCAA.  Auburn was ranked No. 31 in that poll’s RPI index and No. 133 in strength of schedule.

The Auburn campus at 702 feet above sea level will be the second highest in elevation thus far for BYU baseball which practices at 4,553 feet.  The CSUN campus is 807 feet and Hawai`i’s campus is at 95 feet.

Following the Auburn series, the Cougars open their home season on March 8 with a three-game series against Nebraska-Omaha.