April 13, 2014
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - A walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth gave Alabama a 4-3 win over Auburn Sunday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium, sending the Tigers to their third-straight SEC series setback.
Auburn (21-16, 6-9 SEC) had numerous scoring opportunities in the game, leaving 10 runners on base over nine innings and running into several outs on the base paths.
With one out in the ninth and the score tied 3-3, Alabama's Wade Wass got a double when the Auburn right fielder attempted to dive for a sinking line drive that got past him into the corner. After reliever Keegan Thompson induced a pop-up for the second out, Crimson Tide designated hitter Casey Hughston sent a deep fly ball to the wall in right to score Wass and give Alabama (24-11, 10-5) the win.
"Tough, emotional loss, no doubt about it," Auburn head coach Sunny Golloway said. "But our guys played really hard. We started seven freshmen today, and our freshmen played really well and swung the bat really well. The series could have gone either way with a base hit here or there, we all saw that. They have a veteran club, we have a young club, and we're going to continue to develop our freshmen and build our club."
Thompson (5-2) was charged with the loss despite being mostly stellar in relief as he gave up just the one run on three hits while striking out three in 2.2 innings pitched. After starter Terrance Dedrick was pulled after giving up three runs on five hits in two-plus innings, Trey Wingenter provided four shutout innings to get to Thompson in the seventh.
The story of the day for both teams was missed opportunities. The teams combined to leave 21 runners on base - 10 for Auburn, 11 for Alabama. Auburn's biggest missed opportunity came in the third inning. After Alabama had jumped out to a 3-0 lead, the Tigers answered in a big way to tie things up. A bases-loaded walk to Blake Logan brought home Damon Haecker to make it 3-1, a second run scored on an RBI single by Connor Short, and an RBI single from Brett Binning tied the game as Daniel Robert scored. The Tigers had five hits in the inning and should have scored more, but two runners were thrown out at the plate from center field. In all, Auburn had four runners thrown out on the base paths in the game.
"We left some base runners," Golloway said. "And getting thrown out at the plate with no outs, that's just a base running mistake. That one really hurt us early because we really had them on the ropes early on."
Alabama jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning off Auburn starter Terrance Dedrick. A pair of singles and a sacrifice put runners at second and third, and an RBI groundout from Wade Wass brought home Mikey White to make it 1-0. After a two-out infield single, a throwing error led to the second Alabama run as Georgie Salem scored from second.
It would be 3-0 Alabama after two innings when an RBI single from Salem brought home Daniel Cucjen.
Seven freshmen were in the starting lineup for the Tigers and accounted for 10 of Auburn's 12 hits. Brett Binning, making his second start at second base, led the way with a 3-for-4 day, while Connor Short and Anfernee Grier had two hits each.
Reliever Trevor Burrows (4-1) picked up the win for Alabama, giving up just one hit in two full innings of work.
Auburn will wrap up a four-game road swing Tuesday night with a 6 p.m. non-conference game at Samford.