Dixon

Tigers Outlast the Gamecocks

The second seeded Tigers stay alive after dropping their first game by outlasting the third seed South Carolina eliminating them from the tournament. Auburn had to outlast the Gamecocks in a twelve inning marathon in which 6 pitchers were used between the two teams. First blood was not drawn by either team till the top of the fourth inning when Creede Simpson who came into the game to replace an injured Brian Fletcher hit a solo home run, and it looked for awhile like that is all the scoring that was going to happen.

That was until South Carolina Senior Catcher Brady Thomas lead off the seventh inning with a solo home run shot that tied the game and sent a unpleasant chill down the spines of Tiger fans.

The Tigers finally put together some offense together in the top of the 12th inning when Ryan Jenkins singled down the right field line to lead off the inning. Casey McElroy would then reach first on a fielders choice that got Jenkins put down at second. Auburn caught another break on a mental error when Justin Hargett advanced McElroy on a fielding error by Gamecock second basemen Wingo. This lead to pitcher Matt Price walking Justin Fredejas when the pressure from the first real jam he had been in all day started to weigh on him. With bases loaded Trent Mummey, a key player in the Tiger resurgence in the second half of the season, was brought up to bat. Mummey looked at two balls and a strike before fouling off a dangerous ball. Price delivered another ball putting Mummey on a full count that he capitalized on by singling the next pitch up the middle. A good jump allowed both McElroy and Hargett to score on the Mummey single putting Auburn up 3-1.The Gamecocks brought in Jose Mata who got them out of the inning without allowing another run, but the damage was already done.

Austin Hubbard would walk Merrifield to lead off the inning, but would strike out Jackie Bradley swinging in a four pitch strikeout talking a step closer to advancing. Christian Walker would line out to Fradejas in right ffield, and Jeffrey Jones would pop out to center were Trent Mummey would take the last out to close out the game.

Auburn advanced to the next round were they will play the winner of the Alabama vs. Mississippi game at 4:30 pm.

Players of the Game

Trent Mummey (2-4) 2 RBI, 1 SB

Austin Hubbard (4.2 IP) 2 Hits, 5 Strikeouts

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