Ole Miss used a pair of homers Friday to outlast the Tigers, 6-4, despite Andreas Alvarez’s double-digit strikeouts. On the other side, Auburn’s offense turned cold, scoring their lowest run total over the last 5 games, dating back to the SEC tournament.
With six straight outs in the first, including three strikeouts for Auburn’s Alvarez, the Rebels turned it around and got to work quickly in the second. To start, Hayden Federico was hit by a pitch right before Owen Paino’s single to left field. Then, Ole Miss’ Brayden Randle singled the team’s first of their four 2-out hits, scoring the first run and putting Auburn on their heels early.
The Tigers had a chance just an half-inning later, loading the bases with a walk, but however, that chance would be thwarted with the first of two inning-ending double plays. The very next inning though, Auburn would load the bases again, threatening to blow the game open and use the record crowd to their advantage. Auburn would finally get a runner across after regional MVP Chase Fralick hit a ball deep enough into the outfield to score Bristol Carter’s fit hit of the postseason.
With Auburn stranding two more runners in the fourth, Auburn’s swing-and-miss pitching with Alvarez couldn’t hold on for too much longer. After giving up a Austin Fawley double and another RBI single to Randle in the fourth, that leeway for Alvarez gave way as Ole Miss’ Judd Utermark hit a towering 2-run homer to put the Rebels up by three in the top of the 5th inning.
After a single by Chris Rembert scored Mason McCraine later that inning, Alvarez would be able to come out for another, but it ultimately would be his last. After 107 pitches and a walk to Ole Miss’ Randle, LJ Cormier came onto relief and was immediately bombarded. On another 2-out swing, LJ Cormier’s first pitch was a 2-out moonshot from Collin Reuter to center, effectively clinching an insurmountable lead for the Rebels.
Even with the McCraine brothers doing all they can with a Mason RBI double in the sixth and a Brandon solo homer in the ninth, it wouldn’t be able to overcome the Tiger’s difficulty with runners in scoring position. The Tigers would ultimately bat 6 for 22 (.273) with runners on, and an even worse, 2 for 9 (.222), with those runners in scoring position. Coach Butch Thompson would talk about the Tiger’s problems with runners on after the game.
“We did do the part of getting runners on, and we’ll need to continue to do that to stay competitive. I love, of course, Mason getting the hit there in the ninth home run,” Coach Thompson said. “Those are exactly the type of approaches you need in that moment, we need to carry through a lot of tomorrow and a little bit at them. so just got to keep swinging, got to make a difference in the two out stuff”.
Now, with the Super Regional being the first to two of three wins, Auburn now has their backs against the wall in a must-win game tomorrow afternoon. Mason McCraine, who hit the RBI double to make it 6-3, talked about the team’s attitude being faced with elimination a second time in as many weeks.
McCraine said, “we got to win, we’ve been talking about our got-tos, and it’s just another got-to on our checklist; we’ve been in the show before. I think we have the team to do it.”
Auburn will look to stave off elimination tomorrow against the Rebels at 4:00 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.