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Friday, May 28, 2010

Hoover, Day 3: Ole Miss 10, Auburn 7, FINAL/10

8:37 p.m.: Auburn goes down quietly in the 10th. It's a final: 10-7 Ole Miss. Here's the quickie story.

Back with more in a bit.
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8: 29 p.m.: Taylor Hashman hits a three-run homer to center off Bradley Hendrix to make it 10-7.

Auburn's got Justin Bryant, Ryan Jenkins and Casey McElroy coming up.
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8:20 p.m.: Sean Ray issues a four-pitch walk with one out. He's done. In comes RHP Bradley Hendrix.
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8:16 p.m.: Hunter Morris came up with one out but hit a soft tapper to end the inning. It's free baseball for the second straight game.
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8:09 p.m.: Miracle double play by Auburn. Wes Gilmer replaced Justin Hargett at second. The ball ate him up, but it bounced right into the glove of shortstop Casey McElroy, who turned the double play to end the inning. 7-7 heading to Auburn's half of the ninth.
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8:02 p.m.: Auburn pinch hits with Trent Mummey, who has a sore hammy. He promptly grounds into a double play, unable to run it out hard down to first.

We're tied at 7-7 going to the 9th.
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7:51 p.m.: Sean Ray gets Alex Yarbrough to fly out with runners on first and second. Crisis averted. Casey McElroy, Creede Simpson, Justin Hargett coming up for Auburn.
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7:47 p.m.: Michael Hurst gets two outs before allowing two baserunners. Auburn goes to lefty Sean Ray out of the bullpen.
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7:38 p.m.: We're through seven tied at 7. LHP Michael Hurst coming into the game for Auburn.
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7:32 p.m.: Three-run blast by Hunter Morris, a moonshot to right, ties the game at 7-7. That's an SEC Player of the Year moment right there. Morris has 21 homers this year.

That's it for Matt Crouse, who struck out a career-high eight. Reliever Trent Rothlin coming into the game.
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7:21 p.m.: Some Keystone Cops fielding just led to two unearned Ole Miss runs. Tony Caldwell dropped a fly ball to left off Taylor Hashman's bat that would have been the second out.

Alex Yarbrough
followed with a single to center. Creede Simpson came up throwing to third but hit Hashman in the back. The ball bounded away and the throw to the plate was too high.

David Phillips followed by hitting a hard grounder that ate up a drawn-in Justin Hargett at second to make it 6-4. Miles Hamblin added an RBI single to make it 7-4.

Auburn had five errors in the game. That ties a season high.
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7:07 p.m.: Justin Hargett strikes out for the third time, shortly before Creede Simpson gets caught stealing.

That's seven strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings for Crouse. Auburn has 10 strikeouts in the game.
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6:58 p.m.: Quick inning for Slade Smith, who strikes out the side. That's 2 1/3 scoreless innings for Smith, who is quickly becoming the favorite to take that No. 3 starter spot in the regionals.
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6:52 p.m.: We're tied up again. Tony Caldwell singled and moved to third on a two-base throwing error on right fielder David Phillips. Justin Bryant pinch hit for Kevin Patterson and hit a sac fly to right-center.

Umps missed a call on a pitch that replays showed hit Bryant on the foot, by the way. John Pawlowski argued the call to no avail.

Bryant hasn't been able to do much since breaking a bone in his hand earlier this year when he was hit by a pitch.
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6:41 p.m.: No score for Ole Miss. Auburn turns a nice 4-6-3 double play to wipe out a leadoff single.

Throwing error on shortstop Casey McElroy was the Tigers' second. They're not having a strong fielding day at all.
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6:35 p.m.: Auburn is not seeing the ball well off Matt Crouse, who has four strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings. Justin Fradejas got picked off to end the inning. 4-3 Ole Miss.
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6:27 p.m.: A couple miscues hurt Auburn again. Tim Ferguson tried to catch the Tigers napping and steal second when Cole Nelson wasn't paying attention. Nelson saw him at the last second and threw to Justin Hargett in time to easily get Ferguson, but Hargett dropped the ball.

After a ground out, Nelson overthrew a fastball for a wild pitch. Ferguson scored to make it 4-3.

Nelson then hit a batter -- his third of the game -- to finish his night. Partial line: 3 2/3 innings, 4 runs, 6 hits, 2 walks, 3 hit batsmen, 4 strikeouts.

Slade Smith in the game for Auburn.
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6:18 p.m.: Auburn failed to break it open. The Tigers chased starter David Goforth by loading the bases with one out. But reliever Matt Crouse struck out Casey McElroy and Creede Simpson to get out of the jam. And that was after falling behind 2-0 to McElroy and 3-0 to Simpson. Big missed opportunity for Auburn.

Crouse has inherited 14 runners this year and none of them have scored.

Cole Nelson coming out for another inning.
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6:04 p.m.: Tony Caldwell finally hit one that the stadium didn't hold. Caldwell, who's starting today in place of Brian Fletcher (hand), got a hold of a pitch and hit it out to left for a two-run homer that tied the game at 3.

It's Caldwell's ninth home run this year.
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5:55 p.m.: Ole Miss scored again. Nelson started it by hitting Taylor Hashman. With two outs, the Rebels executed a perfect hit-and-run. But Auburn lollygagged it in right field and Justin Fradejas threw it to second base instead of setting a relay up to the plate. That allowed Hashman to score from first on a single. Poor defensive play.

Nelson's up to 72 pitches through three innings. Three runs, five hits, two walks, two hit batsmen. Can't imagine he's out there for much longer.

3-1 Ole Miss.
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5:45 p.m.: Auburn gets on the board on a double by Creede Simpson. Ole Miss right fielder Matt Snyder overran the ball as it skipped behind him. Ryan Jenkins, who was running on the 3-2 count, scored from first to cut the Ole Miss lead to 2-1.

Justin Hargett struck out looking to end the threat with Simpson on third.
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5:33 p.m.: Another jam for Cole Nelson. This time he can't pitch out of it. Ole Miss loaded the bases on a double, an infield hit and walk before Tim Ferguson hit a two-run single to left to make it 2-0 Rebels.

Nelson prevents further damage by getting a ground out and a foul pop up , but he's labored through two innings. He's thrown 51 pitches so far. Would not be surprised if Auburn went to Slade Smith next inning.
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5:18 p.m.: A one-out Dan Gamache single leads to nothing. We're scoreless going into the second.

Hunter Morris crushed a ball to the warning track in right-center for the third out. Thought it was gone. Definitely a homer in Plainsman Park. But there are no cheapies here in Regions Park.
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5:07 p.m.: Cole Nelson recovers nicely after allowing the first two batters to reach. After a brief visit from John Pawlowski, Nelson struck out Matt Smith and Matt Snyder. Hunter Morris got Auburn out of the jam with a nice sliding catch down the first base line in foul territory.

There's some light rain out there, by the way. Not enough to delay anything, but enough to be annoying for the players I bet.
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UPDATE (4:59 p.m.) Cole Nelson hits a batter and walks another. Already action in the Auburn bullpen. It's Slade Smith. Not an auspicious start.
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UPDATE (4:55 p.m.) And we're underway. Check back for periodic updates.
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UPDATE (4:13 p.m.) We've got a new start time: 5:55 p.m. ET. The tarp is being rolled up. Of course, lightning could still be a factor.
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UPDATE (3:36 p.m.) Tarp back on the field. We're not starting anytime soon.
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UPDATE (3:27 p.m.) Here's Ole Miss' lineup:
1. CF Tim Ferguson
2. 3B Zach Miller
3. RF Matt Smith
4. DH Matt Snyder
5. LF Taylor Hasman
6. 2B Alex Yarbrough
7. 1B Mike Snyder
8. SS Kevin Mort
9. C Miles Hamblin

RHP David Goforth
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UPDATE (3:20 p.m.) Estimated start time of 5 p.m. ET for the Auburn-Ole Miss game. It looks like the rain is wrapping around, though. There's a chance it might not start by then.
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UPDATE (3:15 p.m.) They just took the tarp off the field. No game time announced yet. There's still some lightning off in the distance.
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UPDATE (2:12 p.m.) Just got the word: Brian Fletcher (left hand) and Trent Mummey (right hamstring) will not be in the lineup today. Here's the lineup:
1. RF Justin Fradejas
2. 3B Dan Gamache
3. LF Tony Caldwell
4. 1B Hunter Morris
5. DH Kevin Patt
6. C Ryan Jenkins
7. SS Greg McElroy
8. CF Creede Simpson
9. 2B Justin Hargett

LHP Cole Nelson
Also, it's pouring out here. The entire front row of the press box watched their computers get soaked once the wind changed. Fortunately, I'm in the second row. If I had to guess, this game will not start on time.
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UPDATE (2:02 p.m.) Oh yeah, shameless Twitter plug here. Follow along for instant game updates. I'll write more in depth on the blog as the game progresses.
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UPDATE (2:01 p.m.) Word in the press box is that CF Trent Mummey will not play today because of a hamstring injury. Nothing too serious, but it was enough that the Tigers didn't want to risk playing him. With a wet field, that decision makes even more sense. I'd imagine Creede Simpson would start in his place.

As for Brian Fletcher, who got hit on a hand yesterday, Auburn hasn't come to a decision. He'll test things out before the coaches make any decision.
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Greetings once again from a soggy Hoover. The tarp is on the field because it's raining. It looks like a small pocket of rain, so it probably won't affect the game, which starts at 4 ET. Still, it's coming down pretty good right now. We'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy the rain medley of music they're playing at Regions Park. Led Zeppelin's "Fool in the Rain" is on now. Prince's "Purple Rain" was on when I entered the stadium. As a Minnesotan, it put an extra hop in my step.

ANYWAY, it's Auburn vs. Ole Miss in an elimination game today. Likely starting pitchers are Cole Nelson (6-3, 4.94 ERA) for Auburn and David Goforth (1-5, 8.27) for Ole Miss.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, but I like the Tigers' chances the deeper they go in this tournament. Everyone has exhausted their top pitchers, and Auburn has proven it can hammer mediocre pitching. If it's a 15-14 game, I wouldn't bet against the Tigers. We'll see.

Back with more as it happens.

3 comments:

Tar Heel Tiger said...

thanks for the bloggin' since I can't be watchin'

Tar Heel Tiger said...

well... rats.

Anonymous said...

No reason to hang our head. SC and Ark both left 0-2. We at least got 1 against a very good team.

We are going to AUBURN for a regional. That is EXCITING.