The Auburn Rockets will square off against the Clinton Gaels at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Auburn sitting on five straight wins and Clinton on three.
On Wednesday, Auburn narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Algonquin Regional 9-7. That's two games straight that the Rockets have won by exactly two runs.
Jayden Ortiz was a standout: he went 2-for-4 with three RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Rex Vartabedian, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Clinton hadn't done well against Oakmont Regional recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. The Gaels had just enough and edged out the Spartans 5-3. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Clinton let Grady Frisch and Brian Silvester run wild. Frisch went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double, while Silvester went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI. Silvester has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played.
Clinton's win bumped their record up to 13-4-1. As for Auburn, their victory bumped their record up to 12-7.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Auburn has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.3 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Clinton struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went Auburn's way against Clinton in their previous meeting back in April of 2025, as Auburn made off with an 11-2 win. Will the Rockets repeat their success, or do the Gaels have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
