Auburn Blanks Baseball in Series Opener, 4-0

AUBURN, Ala. – Chase Allsup handcuffed Missouri for seven innings to propel Auburn to a 4-0, three-hit shutout of the Tigers in the first game of a Southeastern Conference series-opening doubleheader Friday afternoon at Plainsman Park.
 
Auburn’s tandem of Allsup and Tanner Bauman was nearly unhittable in the opener, limiting the Tigers six baserunners—and just four over the final eight innings—to kick off the two clubs’ final SEC series of the regular season.

Chris Stanfield’s two-out infield chopper brought in the game’s first run, snapping a scoreless duel in the fifth. AU added to its lead on back-to-back solo shots by Bryson Ware and Ike Irish the following inning to seize a 3-0 lead.

Mizzou (30-21, 10-18 SEC) never seriously threatened the Auburn advantage, as Allsup fanned seven Tigers over 7.0 innings, both of which established new career bests for the sophomore right-hander. Bauman retired five of the six batters he faced over 2.0 hitless innings to close out the victory and his first save of the season.

Mizzou’s Chandler Murphy was every bit Allsup’s equal over the first half of the contest, retiring the first 10 Auburn hitters of the game. Back-to-back hits by Cole Foster and Bobby Peirce gave AU its first two baserunners, but Murphy got Ware to swing and miss at a third strike, and retired Irish on a fly ball to left to keep the game scoreless.

AU (31-19-1, 15-13 SEC) engineered its first scoring opportunity thanks to a hot shot to third off the bat of Kason Howell that went for an infield single. Caden Green’s sacrifice move the runner into scoring position, before Stanfield’s bouncer eluded a pair of Mizzou defenders to allow Howell time to score the first run of the afternoon.

Murphy (4-5) quickly dispatched the first two hitters of the sixth, but Ware launched his 20^th round-tripper of the season to double the lead, and Irish followed with a long drive that cleared the wall in right to stretch the margin to three runs.

Auburn added a run in the eighth, taking advantage of a pair of hit batsmen and a walk to plate a run without the benefit of a hit.

Murphy logged a season high 7 1/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits while striking out seven—also a Mizzou career best for the right-hander.
 

UP NEXT

Mizzou and Auburn continue their three-game set with game two of the twin bill Friday (May 19) at 5:15 p.m.

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