May 28, 2010
HOOVER, Ala. - Taylor Hashman's 10th-inning three run home run off of Bradley Hendrix ended Auburn's run at the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Friday evening as the No. 13 Tigers fell 10-7 to No. 21 Ole Miss.
The loss put Auburn's record at 40-19 with the NCAA Regional site selection announcement coming at approximately 2:30pm CT on Sunday and the entire field being announced at 11:30am on Monday.
Auburn was undone by a season-high-tying five errors that led to four unearned runs for Ole Miss (38-21). Three of those unearned runs came in the top of the seventh when Auburn committed three errors, one on a fly ball to left and one on a ground ball to second on a drawn-in infield, as Ole Miss took a 7-4 lead.
"We didn't play at a high, championship level today. Against good teams, certainly at this time of the year, no matter who you play, you need to play at a high level," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. "We made some mistakes and that cost us the ball game...Ole Miss played a solid game and they deserved to win today"
Auburn answered Ole Miss' three runs with three runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning as 2010 SEC Player of the Year Hunter Morris blasted a game-tying, three-run home run over the second wall down the line in right for his 21st home run of the season to make it 7-7. Morris finished the night 2-for-5.
"I am excited for the kids kept coming back and kept battling. Hunter got us back in the ball game but unfortunately it just wasn't meant to be," Pawlowski said.
Sean Ray (2-3) was saddled with the loss despite allowing just two base runners in 1 2/3 innings, both on walks. The second, issued to Zach Miller with one down in the 10th, prompted the move to Hendrix, who fanned Matt Smith but then gave up a single to Matt Snyder and Hashman's home run to center.
Matt Tracy (4-3) picked up the win in relief, throwing 1 2/3 innings, issuing one walk, while Brett Huber recorded the final three outs to pick up his 12th save of the season.
Auburn would bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the 10th but Huber induced a ground out off the bat of Wes Gilmer to end Auburn's stay at the tournament.
Ole Miss went up 2-0 in the second on a two-run single by Tim Ferguson before Auburn answered on Creede Simpson's double to right that scored Ryan Jenkins from first.
Ole Miss got the run back in the top of the third when Mike Snyder singled home Taylor Hashman but this time it was Tony Caldwell who answered for Auburn as he sent his ninth home run of the year out to left-center, scoring Justin Fradejas to make it 3-3. Caldwell finished the night 3-for-4 with a walk, two RBI and three runs scored.
"We had five errors tonight. It doesn't matter what the conditions are, we are a better team than how we played tonight," Caldwell said.
Ole Miss went up 4-3 in the fourth as Ferguson singled, reached second on Auburn's first error of the game, a failed attempt to catch him stealing second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a Cole Nelson wild pitch.
Auburn tied it at 4-4 in the fifth, capitalizing on an Ole Miss error as Caldwell singled and went to third on a two-base throwing error by Ole Miss right fielder David Phillips and scored on Justin Bryant's sac fly.
The extra-inning game was Auburn's second straight, marking the first time since 1998 that Auburn has played in consecutive extra-inning games.
Auburn's First Team All-SEC outfielders Brian Fletcher and Trent Mummey were both held out of the starting lineup after suffering minor injuries during the 12-inning win over South Carolina on Thursday.
The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 55 minutes due to rain.
Auburn baseball fans are invited to attend a NCAA Selection Show Viewing Party on Monday at Loco's Deli on South College St. in Auburn. The viewing party will be from 11 am - 12:30pm CT, with the selection show airing live at 11:30am on ESPN.
Loco's will close off a section of the restaurant for the team and fans and will offer a wing buffet for $9.99 per person.
Ole Miss 10, Auburn 7 (May 28, 2010 at Hoover, AL)
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Ole Miss............ 021 100 300 3 - 10 12 2 (38-21)
Auburn.............. 012 010 300 0 - 7 10 5 (40-19)
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Win-Matt Tracy(4-3) Save-Brett Huber(12) Loss-Sean Ray(2-3) T-3:45 A-0
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