Austin Martin was 3 for 4 with 3 Ribeyes, 2 stolen bases and 2 runs scored to lead the No.5 Commodores to a 12-6 victory over No. 25 Auburn last night at Hawkins Field.

The great Austin is now hitting .409 on the season and leading the SEC in hitting. Ethan Paul, Philip Clarke, Stephen Scott and Pat DeMarco each had 2 hits. Scott belted his 5th homer of the season and 22nd in his career over the right central field wall in the 2nd inning part of a 3 run 2nd. The Dores scored 4 times in the 3rd, 4 times in the 6th and added a run in the 7th. Julian Infante had a 2 run single and Paul, Clarke, Harrison Ray, Scott and DeMarco each had an RBI.

Drake Fellows started and performed pretty well in challenging pitching conditions with a hard rain going on in the first 3 innings of his start. It was tough to grip the ball. Auburn starter Tanner Burns had trouble as well and there were wild pitches and hit batters. There was a stoppage of play in the 3rd due to the weather. But Drake hung tough like he always does and got through 5, giving up 6 hits, 4 earned with 1 walk and 4 K’s. Mason Hickman, who has been sensational in mid week games this season, pitched the final 4 frames, giving up 4 hits, 2 earned with 2 walks and 8 K’s. Both Drake and Mason are strike throwers. That is such an asset in pitching. The fielders know to be alert because the pitcher is always going to be around the plate. Drake moved to a nation leading 9-0 and has a 3.67 ERA. Mason picked up his 3rd save and is now 5-0 with 3 saves and a sparkling 2.04 ERA.

We moved to 32-9 overall and 13-6 in the SEC. We are now tied with Georgia for the SEC East lead and both us and Georgia lead the conference overall with our 13-6 records. Arkansas leads the west at 12-6 . No.4 Georgia plays at No.9 Mississippi State this weekend and No.8 Arkansas hosts No. 20 Tennessee for a weekend set with both series starting tonight.

We face Auburn again tonight at 7 on the SEC Network. Freshman Kumar Rocker (4-4, 4.61 ERA) gets the call for us and Kumar will square off with Auburn righty Richard Fitts (3-2, 4.55 ERA).

Great stuff happening with the team. Need to keep it cookin.

Scotty Pippen Jr.

SP2 has now signed with Stack and Vanderbilt. That gives us 2 signees for this 2019 class along with 6’8” 4 star power forward Dylan Disu. SP2 is a high 3 star point guard with a ton of skill. He could step in right away next season and allow Saben to move over to the 2 which would be huge for us as Saban could dominate at the 2 spot. We are going to lose Simi Shittu to the draft and Matt Ryan and Yanni Wetzell are most likely transferring, but Coach Stackhouse is still out recruiting hard for players in this 2019 class and for 2020. There are some quality guys left and Stack and assistant David Grace are working hard to secure another player or 2 for this class and for players in 2020. Like what Stack is doing. He’s an awesome guy, and with his credentials, he can land some big names. Next year will be interesting. We won’t have a ton of depth underneath, but we’ll have enough, and a good backcourt, so we can be very competitive and have a shot at the tournament. And I like the way Stack is shaping this program up for the future. SP2 is a 6’1”, 165 point guard. He needs to put on some more size, but he is highly skilled and can give us supreme quickness with Saben in the backcourt. He is also Scottie Pippen’s son so those genes are spectacular.

Men’s Golf 2nd at SEC Championship

Our golf team is 2nd at the SEC Championship at Sea Island, GA. We are at -8 and Auburn leads at -22. Auburn is going off. The top 8 teams after today’s 3rd round of stroke play will square off in the match play starting tomorrow. Hoping we can finish strong and solidify 2nd and gear up for tomorrow. Georgia is 3rd at -5 and the next team is Tennessee at +1, so if we can play a steady round and maybe get it explosive on the remainder of the holes we can have a lot of momentum heading into tomorrow’s first round of match play. We are on holes 6-8 as is Auburn.