|
Wacker’s Heroics Lead Auburn To 3-2 Win At No. 12 Ole Misss
OXFORD, Miss. – Cullen
Wacker drove in the game-tying run with a ninth-inning, two-out double
and that was after the left fielder robbed Ole Miss of a two-run home
run in the bottom of the fifth as Auburn rallied with two ninth-inning
runs to win 3-2 at No. 12 Ole Miss on Sunday. The win gave Auburn the
series victory and upped the team’s record to 12-8, 2-1 SEC while Ole
Miss fell to 15-5, 1-2 SEC.
“The whole weekend was
back-and-forth where one pitch or one play could have made the
difference,” Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. “What a great
comeback for our guys. (Ole Miss starter Mike Mayers) stuffed us for a
major part of the game. We were down to two strikes with two outs in
the ninth but the guys kept battling. Cullen Wacker and Garrett Cooper
really stepped up and we had quality at bats when we really needed it
the most.”
Facing a 2-2 count with two outs in the ninth against
Mayers, Ryan Tella laced a double down the line in left to put an
Auburn runner in scoring position for just the second time all day.
Wacker, who finished with three of Auburn’s seven hits, then worked a
2-1 count before lining a RBI double to the wall down the right field
line to tie it at 2-2. Ole Miss then went to its closer, Brett Huber,
and got Garrett Cooper into a 1-2 hole before the first baseman singled
back up the middle, driving in Wacker from second to put Auburn up 3-2.
“I
was just trying to drive in Tella from second any way I could,” Wacker
said. “I was thinking the other way. They had been pitching me backdoor
sliders the whole game and he came in with one. It got back over the
plate and I was able to turn on it and put it down in the corner. As
soon as it left the bat I knew it was down and we had tied the
ballgame.”
Ole Miss would not go down easy, getting the tying
run to second with one out in the ninth but Auburn closer Justin Bryant
was able to get a strike out and a pop-up to seal the win for Auburn.
The save was the second of the year for Bryant.
Auburn took a
1-0 lead in the third as Caleb Bowen doubled and scored on a Jay
Gonzalez sac fly. Ole Miss answered with two runs in the bottom of the
frame as Blake Newalu led off the inning with a home run to left and
was followed by a Tanner Mathis triple. A RBI groundout by Alex
Yarbrough gave Ole Miss the 2-1 lead, which it would hold until the
ninth.
Wacker’s defensive gem in left-center ended the
fifth as he robbed Will Allen of a two-run home run, bringing it back
in from over the fence to keep it a one-run deficit.
“It was a
3-0 count and I didn’t know if he was going to be swinging or seeing a
pitch. He took a hack at it and I was surprised by it at first. The
ball just kept on going and going and I just got back to the wall, felt
the wall and the ball just dropped in the glove when I jumped,” Wacker
said. “It was probably two or three feet over the wall. It would have
been out of here.”
Cory Luckie (1-0) earned the win out of the
Auburn bullpen, throwing two scoreless innings before turning it over
to Bryant following a leadoff walk in the ninth.
Mayers (2-2)
took the loss despite scattering six hits over eight innings without
allowing a walk, striking out five but surrendering all three Auburn
runs.
Auburn starter Daniel Koger did not factor into the
decision but has his third quality start of the season, working six
innings and allowing two runs on six hits and a walk, striking out two.
|
