Klobosits leads Auburn to 9-7 win over No. 3 Texas A&M

AUBURN | Gabe Klobosits came through when Auburn needed him most.

In his first SEC action, Klobosits came out of the bullpen to hold No. 3 Texas A&M to a run in 7.0 innings as Auburn won game two of Saturday’s doubleheader 9-7 at Plainsman Park.

The Tigers improve to 10-9 overall and 1-1 in the SEC. The Aggies, which won game one 12-8, fall to 17-2 and 1-1.

“Gabe coming in that third inning and finishing that ballgame, I’ve never been more proud of a player and of a team,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “They punched because they’re good, and we punched back today.”

Klobosits (1-1) entered the game in the third with Auburn trailing 6-4. He held TAMU to five hits and two walks with a career-high eight strikeouts.

“Felt good to be able to come out and throw seven innings after I’d been struggling a couple of times and Butch just believing,” said Klobosits, a native of Katy, Texas. “Everyone really rallied around me and kept me going.

“There’s nothing better than beating a team you grew up playing against, all those guys. There’s nothing sweeter.”

Auburn broke a tie in the sixth on an error by Texas A&M shortstop George Janca that allowed Anfernee Grier to score from third base. The Tigers tacked on an insurance run in the eighth on an RBI-single by Daniel Robert.

Both teams started the game swinging hot bats. Texas A&M scored four in the first off Auburn starter Casey Mize only to see Auburn respond with four of its own in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Jordan Ebert, RBI-single by Niko Buentello, RBI-double by Joshua Palacios and a sacrifice fly by Cody Nulph.

“For our guys to come up and give four runs away in that first inning and to answer that in the bottom of the first hopefully tells us a lot about our ball club and their capabilities and I’m proud of them for that,” Thompson said.

The Aggies scored two more in the second only to see the Tigers tie it back up in the third on an RBI-single by Robert, who came around to score on an error.

Auburn took its first lead of the game in the fifth on an RBI-single by Kyler Deese but TAMU tied it back up at 7-7 with a run in the sixth.

Robert finished 4 of 5 with two runs scored and three RBI. He was 6 of 9 in the doubleheader to raise his average from .180 to .280.

“It feels great. It’s finally good to know that hard work pays off,” Robert said. “Coach (Doug) Sisson and I, the countless swings we took in the cage and out on the field to get this thing figured out and hopefully we can go forward in a positive direction.”

Grier, Palacios and Buentello added three hits apiece for the Tigers. Palacios had seven hits in the doubleheader while Grier extended his hitting streak to 20 games.

Auburn had 17 hits in the game and 27 hits on the day.

Mize struggled in his first SEC start allowing six runs on six hits and two walks in 2.0 innings.

Corbin Martin (1-1) took the loss allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits in 2.0 innings. TAMU starter Tyler Ivey allowed six runs, five earned, in 3.0 innings. He came into the game having allowed two runs in his previous 23.1 innings.

Boomer White had three hits and an RBI for the Aggies. Ryne Birk was 2 of 5 with two runs scored and two RBI.

The series will conclude Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. Auburn junior right-hander Cole Lipscomb (1-1, 4.00 ERA) will face TAMU senior right-hander Kyle Simonds (3-0, 1.17). The game will be available on SECN+ and the WatchESPN app.