'A great feeling': Judd Ward, Bailey Horn shine in SEC Tournament win

'A great feeling': Judd Ward, Bailey Horn shine in SEC Tournament win'A great feeling': Judd Ward, Bailey Horn shine in SEC Tournament win
Wade Rackley/Auburn Athletics

HOOVER, Ala. – Judd Ward's first RBI hit traveled 20 feet. His second sailed more than 350.

The sophomore outfielder drove in three runs with a safety squeeze bunt single and a two-run home run Tuesday in Auburn's 5-3 SEC Tournament win over Tennessee.

"Judd Ward is probably our toughest, grittiest ballplayer," Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. "He's not a one-dimensional ballplayer and it's pretty neat to see him be able to do the short game, the home run. The grit that he plays with day in and day out, I think he's a catalyst for what we want our program to look like.

"He's going to have an opportunity to impact the game in some manner because he can do so many things on the field."

Auburn's leadoff hitter gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth with a perfectly executed safety squeeze bunt that scored Edouard Julien.

In the seventh, Ward smashed his fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot to right that he celebrated by leaping into the air between first and second base.


"I ran into one," Ward said. "It was awesome. A great feeling."

"It looked like it," deadpanned Julien, seated next to Ward in the postgame media session.

Winning pitcher Bailey Horn turned in his best outing of the season at a critical moment, striking out six in four innings in a victory that further strengthened Auburn's NCAA Tournament resume.

"Came in in a clutch situation, runners in scoring position." said Horn, who improved to 3-0 with the victory. "Elliott [Anderson] and Will [Morrison] did a great job keeping us in the ballgame. My job was to come in and do the same, give our hitters a chance for us to win the game. That was my main goal."

Horn exited in the ninth after allowing a solo homer that trimmed the Tigers' lead to 5-3. He watched closer Cody Greenhill earn his 10th save that included a fly ball to the warning track that came within a few feet of tying the game.

"I was attacking the zone, missed my spot and they had a pinch-hit home run there," Horn said. "But 'Bull' came in to close it down which was our main goal."

"Bailey Horn's an example tonight of somebody who had Tommy John [surgery]," Thompson said. "We decided to bring him on. And now, he's 14 and a half months off the surgery, you see him have a moment like this, and everything comes together, and basically get on autopilot."

Horn set down 11 straight Volunteers, helping Auburn advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournament. The Tigers play Vanderbilt Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. CT.

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer