Burton's 12th-inning magic helps No. 4 A&M secure sweep of Auburn

Game #28: No. 4 Texas A&M 10, Auburn 9 (12 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (25-3, 6-3), Auburn (16-11, 1-8)
WP: Weston Moss (3-0)
LP: Ben Schorr (0-1)
Box Score

It took some free baseball, but the Aggies now have their first sweep in conference play. 

“They’re just so rare,” A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “It’s like seeing a polar bear in College Station, man. A sweep in the SEC doesn’t happen much.”

In a back-and-forth 12-inning affair, Texas A&M completed the sweep over Auburn, 10-9, with a walk-off single from Ted Burton.

The 12th inning began with a leadoff double from Braden Montgomery, who advanced to third on a groundout by Jackson Appel in the next at-bat. 

“I knew we were going to do something special,” Burton said postgame of that particular moment.

Facing a favorable 3-1 count, he delivered a ground ball up the middle into center field, sending the Aggie faithful home happy just minutes before midnight. 

“We knew [Ben Schorr] was gonna throw a lot of cutters,” Burton said. “I know Braden did a great job to keep the inning going and I just tried to replicate that.” 

Heading to the ninth, the Aggies held a 9-8 lead, only needing three outs to complete their fourth sweep of the season.

However, Auburn had other plans as Gavin Miller launched a game-tying solo home run to left field.

In the extra frames, A&M’s relief pitching buckled down and kept the Aggies tied to set the table for Burton’s heroics.

After pitching four innings on Thursday, Evan Aschenbeck came in to pitch the tenth, in which he sat down the Tigers in order with a lineout and a pair of flyouts. 

“He wanted to throw an inning, and I wanted to avoid it,” Schlossnagle said about pitching Achenbeck on short rest. “We have a season to play. We need Evan. Burning him on 61 pitches on a [Thursday] night, you see what it sets you up for the rest of the weekend. 

“Once we got to the two lefties [Ike Irish and Cooper McMurray], then I’ll fire the bullet right then.”

Behind him, Weston Moss, who had a rough outing in Friday’s game, pitched two scoreless innings. 

“Yesterday they were kinda on me a little bit, but I had good stuff, and I was in the zone, so I just forgot about that day and moved on,” Moss said.

Moss struck out four of the seven batters he faced, allowing just one hit. His last punchout came against Irish — the Tigers’ leading hitter.

The momentous strikeout fired Moss up as he left the mound.

Through the course of the game, A&M seemed to have an answer every time Auburn scored.

Kelii Horvath, TexAgs

Texas A&M totaled 16 hits and drew nine walks on Saturday as eight different Aggies recorded hits.

In the second inning, the Aggies faced a 3-0 deficit after a two-run single from Irish that was followed by a run-scoring single from McMurray. 

However, it didn’t take long for the Aggie lineup to respond.

A&M scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the second off an RBI groundout from Caden Sorrell and a double from Ryan Targac, which scored Burton. 

In the next inning, the Maroon & White took the lead on Montgomery’s 16th homer of the season. His two-run blast traveled an astonishing 457 feet to center field and scored Jace LaViolette to put A&M on top 4-3. 

Later that inning, Sorrell rocketed a ball back up the middle for an RBI single, increasing the Aggie lead to 5-3. 

Auburn’s center fielder Chris Stanfield got the Tigers within a run in the fourth with a run-scoring single. 

The Aggies then responded in the bottom half of the frame with a pair of RBI singles from Appel and Burton, putting the Aggies up 7-4. 

Caden Green smashed a solo home run for Auburn in the fifth, decreasing its deficit to 7-5. A&M would answer in the home half of the inning as Gavin Grahovac hit a solo home run of his own. 

The eighth inning went awry for the Aggies as Christian Hall launched a solo home run to right before an RBI single from Irish and a sacrifice fly from McMurray tied the game at eight. 

Once again, A&M responded in the same inning as Ali Camarillo reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Montgomery. 

Resilient fight from the Maroon & White led them to victory. 

“You got a team over there fighting, scratching and clawing to get back in the conference race, so proud of our guys to hang in,” Schlossnagle said. 

Saturday’s triumph proved to be a much-needed victory in terms of competing for the SEC West crown and staying two games behind No. 1 Arkansas, who swept No. 8 LSU in Fayetteville this weekend.

After a 7-1 homestand, A&M will hit the road to face Texas State in San Marcos on Tuesday before heading to South Carolina for another crucial conference series with the Gamecocks.