Alabama State is defeated by No. 16 Auburn, marking Thompson’s 300th victory.

AUBURN, Ala. – Head coach Butch Thompson secured his 300th win in an Auburn uniform as the No. 16 Tigers defeated Alabama State 13-9 Tuesday night at Plainsman Park.

Thompson becomes the third coach in program history to surpass the 300-win milestone, joining Paul Nix and Hal Baird on the short list.

“Just special,” Thompson said of the win. “That’s one of those longevity deals, right? So I’m thankful for it. I’m thankful for everyone here at Auburn who has been amazing to me and Robin, strike one, strike two and strike three. It’s been a special place to us, and the players who are currently on this roster made it special after the ballgame.”

Auburn (17-4) scored in seven of eight innings at the plate with all nine hitters in the lineup recording a hit and scoring a run and seven of the nine driving in a run. Lucas Steele hit a grand slam in the fourth inning to give Auburn the lead for good, marking his second home run and four-RBI effort in the last three games.

“We have these things defensively called shutdown innings. Every time we score (the pitchers) try to go out there and throw a shutdown inning. If they don’t, we try to go out there and score more than we gave up,” Steele said “I guess that’s the name of the game. You have to score more than they do, but our offense is doing a really good job of collecting runs over and over again.”

After Alabama State scored six runs in the first four innings, Auburn reliever Jett Johnston (3-0) stabilized the game by retiring all seven batters he faced with a pair of strikeouts en route to earning the win. Carson Myers entered with the bases loaded in the seventh inning but ultimately recorded the final nine outs, recording his third 3.0-inning save of the season.

“It’s been awesome,” Myers said of this year’s pitching staff. “We trust every single guy who goes out there and try to make the hitters as uncomfortable as possible. Seeing Jett [Johnston] makes me want to go out and make them even more uncomfortable. It was super easy to follow behind him.”

Alex Petrovic made his second straight midweek start and retired Alabama State (9-13) in order with a seven-pitch first inning, and Auburn (17-4) wasted no time getting on the scoreboard with back-to-back doubles from Eric Snow and Cooper McMurray in the home half of the first inning.

The Hornets answered quickly with a single followed by a two-run home run to center field to take the lead in the second. However, the Tigers punched back with the first three batters of the bottom of the inning reaching. Eric Guevara reclaimed the lead for Auburn with a two-run double to right center. Deric Fabian and Cade Belyeu scored on the play after starting the inning with back-to-back singles.

Auburn added to its advantage with its run in the third. Steele drew a leadoff walk and made his way around the bases on a wild pitch and a passed ball before scoring on Belyeu’s eight-pitch RBI double.

The back-and-forth affair continued as Alabama State took its second lead of the game with four runs on five hits in the fourth, but again Auburn answered by matching the Hornets with four runs in the home half. Trialing 6-5, McMurray and Chris Rembert collected singles around Chase Fralick being hit by a pitch to load the bases. Steele then stepped to the plate and sent a 2-0 over the wall in right center to give the Tigers a lead they wouldn’t surrender.

After recording the final out of the fourth inning, Johnston sat Alabama State down in order in the fifth and sixth innings with 16 of the 22 pitches he offered going for strikes. Myers inherited a jam in the seventh but ultimately got out of it and held the Hornets in check in the eighth and ninth, only allowing an unearned run to score.

Leading 9-6, Auburn added to its advantage with a solo homer from Snow in the fifth, his fourth of the season. The Tigers went scoreless in the sixth, the only inning they didn’t score all night, before Fralick hit a two-run single in the seventh and pinch runner Bristol Carter scored on a wild pitch in the eighth.

The Tigers continue Southeastern Conference play with a roadtrip to No. 24 Kentucky (14-5, 1-2 SEC) Friday through Sunday.