OXFORD, Miss. – Auburn battled No. 4 Ole Miss to the bitter end but ultimately dropped the series opener at Swayze Field, 1-0, Friday night.
After starting pitchers Cody Greenhill and Gunnar Hoglund dueled for the first seven innings, a pinch-hit homer run in the bottom of the eighth was the difference for the Rebels.
"This is what I remember from a SEC Friday night," head coach Butch Thompson said. "It's a heartbreak because you want to get your share, but if our team will play this way for this SEC run and be consistent, there's so many things we did well today."
Greenhill turned in a career best 7.0 scoreless innings but did not factor into the decision. The senior right-hander allowed just four hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
"It's probably the best breaking ball and definitely the change up to left-handers that we've seen in his career," Thompson said of Greenhill. "His pitch-ability, I think he's doing an amazing job. He's a different style pitcher on his journey to get back to 100 percent, but he's giving us a chance, especially on a Friday night."
Auburn threatened out of the gate as Rankin Woley singled to right center to put runners on the corners with two outs in the first, but the Tigers came up empty as a strikeout ended the threat.
After allowing a two-out single in the first, Greenhill retired 15 straight batters until allowing another two-out single in the sixth.
Mississippi native Bryson Ware aided Greenhill in the bottom of the fifth, making a leaping catch against the wall in right field to end the frame and keep Ole Miss off the scoreboard.
Auburn had its best opportunity in the seventh when Woley hit a leadoff double and Tyler Miller followed with a walk. Both runners advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch, but Hoglund struck out the next three batters to escape the jam.
Like Hoglund the inning before, Greenhill worked out of a jam in the home half. With runners on second and third and one out, the Russellville, Alabama, native got a strikeout and flyout to get out of the seventh unscathed and end his outing.
Freshman righty Joseph Gonzalez came on in relief and retired the first batter he faced, but pinch hitter Calvin Harris hit a solo homer that proved to be the difference.
Auburn pinch hitter Ryan Dyal nearly matched Harris' home run with a towering fly ball well beyond the right field fence, but the 1-0 fastball was pulled just right of the foul pole.
Ryan Bliss and Woley accounted for four of Auburn's five hits with two apiece. Woley extended his hitting streak to 10 games and the contest marked Bliss' 35th multi-hit game in the last 71 games dating back to Apr. 1, 2019.
Auburn and Ole Miss turn around for game two of the three-game series at Swayze Field Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
