Auburn Falls to Ole Miss, Faces Elimination in Super Regional

The Auburn Tigers fall 6-4 to Ole Miss in game one of the Super Regional at Plainsman Park. 

It wasn't a terrible night for pitching, but the Tigers bats could find enough breaks to keep up with multiple Rebels homes on Friday night. 

The SEC showdown between two teams that didn't face off in conference play came down to capitalizing on base traffic. Ole Miss picked up two homers in the game, both with runners on the base paths. 

Andreas Alvarez got the start for the Tigers and showed off some peaks and valleys on the mound. The right-hander recorded ten strikeouts in the outing across 5.2 innings and 107 pitches, but he also couldn't limit the scoring. The sophomore allowed 5 earned runs off 7 hits. 

The bats that helped them get to Super Regionals struggled to find their momentum on Friday night. Both Chase Fralick and Ethin Bingaman, who had career outings last weekend were silent in the opener against the Rebels. Both players were hitless at the plate; however, Fralick did record a sacrifice fly early in the game. 

The Tigers loaded the bases twice in the early innings, and Fralick's sacrifice fly was the only thing they had to show for it. If they can change that kind of luck on Saturday, the team should be in great shape to force a game three. 

Mason McCraine was the only Tigers hitter to record a homer in the contest as he picked one up in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

After the game, Butch Thompson has plenty of positive things to say about his team's effort despite the loss. "I'm looking for the same kind of effort tonight, to hopefully get a different result."

The Tigers head coach also confirmed that Alex Petrovic will get the ball to start Game 2 of Super Regionals on Saturday. He is coming off a solid outing last week in Regionals against UCF. In that start, the redshirt sophomore went 108 pitches, a season high across six innings. Thompson also added that Jackson Sanders could potentially be the first arm out of the bullpen. 

The first pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 4 PM CT. Auburn must win to keep its season alive and avoid elimination. If the Tigers do, the two teams will play a winner-take-all Game 3 on Sunday.