Auburn baseball sets new attendance record, wins top-15 series over Alabama
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With all the excitement on the hardwood over the weekend, it would have been easy to forget about the big series happening on the diamond.
But baseball fans still showed up on The Plains as No. 14 Auburn hosted No. 8 Alabama in one of the most anticipated college baseball matchups across the country.
For the series opener Friday night, Auburn reported 6,729 people attended the game at Plainsman Park. That number set a new program record for attendance by more than 1,000 fans.
“That’s the most charged, the most well-rounded, the richest environment that I’ve seen for Auburn baseball since I’ve been here. It Just felt like another level to me. We played a great team, played our rival, had a little skid of not getting the result we wanted the last few days and our people showed up like that, it was amazing.”
Butch Thompson, Auburn coach
Across the weekend, Auburn reported 17,935 fans attended, which set a program record for a three-game series.
Auburn wins 2 of 3
Auburn took two of three in the series, including a dominant run-rule victory in front of the record-breaking crowd Friday night.
Pitcher Samuel Dutton pitched a complete game while the Tigers’ offense racked up 10 runs in just seven innings of play.
“It feels awesome, but the best thing about this whole night was the fans that showed out today and the atmosphere they brought. My mindset was to keep attacking those hitters. I had faith in my offense that they were going to get those runs and they did. The biggest thing is just getting quick outs and filling up the strike zone.”
Samuel Dutton, Auburn pitcher
The Tigers would also go on to win the final game of the series Saturday night which was the back end of a double header due to forecasted weather on Sunday.
Auburn improved to 22-10 on the season and 6-6 in SEC play. That’s good enough to currently sit in ninth play in the conference with six more series to go before postseason play.
Head over to the Auburn baseball website to see the complete schedule + for more information on tickets.
Justin Lebron stars for Alabama again
While it was an overall disappointing weekend for the Crimson Tide, it could have been a lot worse without the heroics of star shortstop Justin Lebron.
His two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning of Game 2 gave Alabama a 6-5 win over the Tigers, salvaging at least one game from the rivalry series.
“I will never fault the toughness and fight of this group. They show up with that every day. A lot of maturity shown in the early game today, down one going into the ninth and fighting our way to a big win. The second game got off to a rough start, but we stayed in the fight and gave ourselves a chance late. We just didn’t have enough to finish.”
Rob Vaughn, Alabama coach
The Crimson Tide still sit just ahead of Auburn in the SEC standings with a 7-5 record in conference play. Alabama is 27-6 overall but fell to No. 12 in the latest D1Baseball rankings.
Alabama hopes to bounce back this weekend against Mississippi State before traveling to play No. 3 LSU. Check out more about the spring sports schedule in Tuscaloosa.
2025 SEC Baseball Tournament
There’s still a little more than a month to go before the SEC returns to the Hoover Met for the biggest conference tournament in all of college baseball.
Alabama + Auburn both have high expectations this season so expect plenty of sold out crowds throughout the week. No teams will be staying home this season as the new format will feature all 16 SEC teams.
Here’s what you need to know:
- 2025 SEC Baseball Tournament
- When: May 20-25
- Where: Hoover Metropolitan Stadium | 5508 Stadium Trace Pkwy, Hoover, AL 35244
- More info | Tickets (on sale April 14)
Which rival do you think goes furthest in the postseason? Let us know by tagging The Bama Buzz on Instagram, X, Facebook + LinkedIn.
