HOOVER, Ala. — The SEC’s top hitting team was no match for the conference’s hottest pitcher.Alabama’s Jimmy Nelson threw his third straight complete game, baffling an Auburn offense that tore up SEC pitching all year in a 7-1 win in the first round of the SEC tournament at Regions Park.
Nelson needed only 97 pitches to make short work of the Tigers, scattering five hits and striking out six.
“Nelson was outstanding,” Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard said. “Throwing 97 pitches against an offensive team like Auburn just does not happen that often.”
Seventh-seeded Alabama (35-21) advances to play sixth-seeded Ole Miss on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. ET. The streaking Tide has won six straight.
No. 13 Auburn (39-18), the second seed, will try to fight its way through the loser’s bracket, starting with an elimination game against third-seeded South Carolina on Thursday morning at 10:30.
Left-hander Grant Dayton (8-2, 4.61 ERA) will be on the mound for the Tigers against South Carolina's Blake Cooper (10-1, 3.08).
“We’ve done a good job of rebounding from pretty much every loss this year,” Auburn first baseman Hunter Morris said. “And that comes with a maturity level. ... You’ve got to have a short-term memory to be successful in baseball.”
Nelson (8-2), a 6-foot-6 righty, cruised against an Auburn lineup that hit .354 during the regular season. He routinely pitched ahead in the count and retired the leadoff batter in all but one inning.
In his last three outings, Nelson has pitched 27 innings, allowed five runs and struck out 24.
“I think it’s the best stretch I have had so far in my career,” Nelson said.
Auburn resorted to small ball for its only run, scoring on a safety squeeze by Justin Fradejas in the third for a 1-0 lead. Trent Mummey got to third on a double and an error, but he was stranded there when Nelson struck out Brian Fletcher swinging.
It was Auburn’s last real scoring chance. The Tigers didn’t get another runner past second base.
“Early in the game, you look and evaluate a pitcher’s stuff,” Auburn head coach John Pawlowski said. “And I thought his stuff was really good, so I thought it was going to be a low-scoring game.
“I thought we could at least get some momentum. Against a guy who was throwing the ball really well, you’ve got to try some different things. Unfortunately we weren’t able to manufacture many runs today.”
Alabama, meanwhile, got better offensively as the game wore on. The Crimson Tide grabbed a 2-1 lead on Andrew Miller’s two-run, two-out single in the fourth off Auburn starter Cory Luckie (6-4), who pitched well in defeat.
Luckie struck out six in 6 2/3 innings, leaving after giving up an RBI triple to Taylor Dugas in the seventh that made it 3-1. Only one of Luckie’s three runs were earned.
The Crimson Tide scored four runs in the final two innings off Auburn relievers, but it didn’t need them.
Nelson finished things off by retiring the All-SEC heart of Auburn’s lineup in the ninth, setting down Fletcher, Morris and Kevin Patterson in order. Those three finished the day 1-for-12.
Auburn hadn’t scored fewer than two runs in an SEC game since being shut out at South Carolina on March 27.
“You can’t expect our guys to score 10 runs every game,” Luckie said. “We are going to have some bad games, but we are going to put it behind us and be ready for tomorrow.”
“We’ve done a good job of rebounding from pretty much every loss this year,” Auburn first baseman Hunter Morris said. “And that comes with a maturity level. ... You’ve got to have a short-term memory to be successful in baseball.”
Nelson (8-2), a 6-foot-6 righty, cruised against an Auburn lineup that hit .354 during the regular season. He routinely pitched ahead in the count and retired the leadoff batter in all but one inning.
In his last three outings, Nelson has pitched 27 innings, allowed five runs and struck out 24.
“I think it’s the best stretch I have had so far in my career,” Nelson said.
Auburn resorted to small ball for its only run, scoring on a safety squeeze by Justin Fradejas in the third for a 1-0 lead. Trent Mummey got to third on a double and an error, but he was stranded there when Nelson struck out Brian Fletcher swinging.
It was Auburn’s last real scoring chance. The Tigers didn’t get another runner past second base.
“Early in the game, you look and evaluate a pitcher’s stuff,” Auburn head coach John Pawlowski said. “And I thought his stuff was really good, so I thought it was going to be a low-scoring game.
“I thought we could at least get some momentum. Against a guy who was throwing the ball really well, you’ve got to try some different things. Unfortunately we weren’t able to manufacture many runs today.”
Alabama, meanwhile, got better offensively as the game wore on. The Crimson Tide grabbed a 2-1 lead on Andrew Miller’s two-run, two-out single in the fourth off Auburn starter Cory Luckie (6-4), who pitched well in defeat.
Luckie struck out six in 6 2/3 innings, leaving after giving up an RBI triple to Taylor Dugas in the seventh that made it 3-1. Only one of Luckie’s three runs were earned.
The Crimson Tide scored four runs in the final two innings off Auburn relievers, but it didn’t need them.
Nelson finished things off by retiring the All-SEC heart of Auburn’s lineup in the ninth, setting down Fletcher, Morris and Kevin Patterson in order. Those three finished the day 1-for-12.
Auburn hadn’t scored fewer than two runs in an SEC game since being shut out at South Carolina on March 27.
“You can’t expect our guys to score 10 runs every game,” Luckie said. “We are going to have some bad games, but we are going to put it behind us and be ready for tomorrow.”
7 comments:
Beat USC
Correction for you... Auburn is 39-18
Dangit!
That's correct. The box score we got had it wrong.
Do you think we can beat SC's ace with Dayton on the mound? I would HATE to go 0-2 at Hoover.
I would say Dayton gives Auburn the best chance to win. He's the Tigers' real ace, even though he normally pitches on Sundays.
But it looks like Auburn got a tough draw. As Nelson and Pomeranz showed today, when you've got a true ace, he's tough to beat when he's on.
Dayton has had good stuff. Should be a good game. I'm thinking 5-4score either way.
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