Auburn was shut down on Saturday, but it made up for lost time in a Sunday afternoon offensive outburst that only needed 8 innings to complete.
After following Friday’s 6-4 victory in the series opener on the Plains with a 2-1 loss on Saturday, the rubber game presented 11th-ranked Auburn with a chance to earn the upper hand against No. 14 Oklahoma. With the ranked SEC series up for grabs, the Tigers grabbed control in a big way on Sunday, pulling away for a 14-4 victory over the Sooners that was clinched by a run-rule, walk-off homer in the 8th inning by freshman first baseman Ethin Bingaman.
It was a 3-run blast by Bingaman that put the Sooners out of their misery and ended Sunday’s game, and it was a fitting way for the game to end, with Bingaman blasting 3 home runs on the afternoon. The last bomb was a 3-run homer that completed a 4-run 8th inning that gave the Tigers the necessary 10-run cushion to end the game without a 9th inning being necessary.
Auburn, which improved to 30-13 overall and 12-9 in the SEC, blasted a season-high 6 home runs in all on Sunday, with Bingaman being the central figure in the rout. Bingaman also belted a solo home run in the third inning and a 3-run blast in the 4th inning that, as it turned out, wouldn’t be his last 3-run shot of the day. He finished with 7 RBIs on the day.
It was the Tigers’ fourth series victory in a row, and it dropped Oklahoma to 29-14 overall and 11-10 in the SEC.
Auburn smacked 10 homers in the weekend series victory, and Bingaman’s show of power was only the Tigers’ 2nd 3-homer SEC game since at least 1993. Catcher Chase Fralick was another power hero for Auburn this weekend, homering in all 3 games of the series and hitting the go-ahead home run in the third inning on Sunday.
After he allowed 2 runs in the first inning, Alex Petrovic settled down for the Tigers, holding Oklahoma scoreless in 5 straight innings to improve to 7-1 on the season.
Auburn will hope to keep the momentum going from this past weekend’s big series victory, and that means more success in the SEC and potentially a trip to Omaha and the College World Series. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the odds for the teams it believes have the best shot to reach Omaha in June:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
