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The Cardiac Kids are Back!
Georgia State @ Auburn
- Tuesday: 3-2 W
Troy @ Auburn
- Wednesday: 6-5 W
WOW...What a mid-week. After a weekend that was more about personal performances and less about combined team and lack of drama, these 2 games showed that this team is together and ready to play. Sure perhaps the approaches at the plate weren’t the best but when it came down to crunch time, the Tigers responded. The first opportunity came Tuesday night against Georgia State where the Tigers really couldn’t do anything until late in the game. After giving up 2 runs early in the game the bullpen was able to hold the Panthers hitless for the final 5 2/3 of the ball game allowing for Auburn to cut let lead to 1 in the 8th. That allowed for Conor Davis to pop a liner off of the first baseman’s glove that scored Will Holland from 3rd to tie the game and Brenden Venter followed with a solid shot to right field to score Jeremy Johnson from second to secure the first walk-off win of the season for the Tigers.
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The very next night the script was flipped except it featured the Auburn defense. Andrew Mitchell had a great start to the ballgame, getting into the 5th inning and turning over a 3-0 lead to Elliott Anderson who ran into trouble and Troy snatched a 4-3 lead. The two undefeated teams battled to a 5-5 stalemate until the bottom of the 8th when Conner Davis drove in Luke Jarvis to take a 6-5 lead into the 9th. The Tigers committed a few fielding errors to allow runners at the corners with 1 down, and that’s when the Auburn defense stepped up. Malczewski was able to induce a ground ball from Brody Binder and Holland started the turn for the game ending 6-4-3 double play to finish the game.
With the win the Tigers improve to 5-0 for the first time since the 2001 season and prepare for the Bryant Bulldogs to invade Plainsman Park. Game one is set for Friday at 5 pm, Saturday’s game two is marked for 1 pm, and the Sunday finale is a high noon first pitch.
Around the League
#1 Florida
- vs Florida Atlantic, FLA 6-1, Tue
- vs Bethune-Cookman, FLA 7-4, Wed
- Two solid mid-week wins for the Gators. That Bethune-Cookman win is better than people thing. B-C is always a contender to make the NCAA tournament.
#8 Arkansas @ Arizona, ARK 1-0, Wed
- Speaking of NCAA Tournament teams, NICE win for the Hogs on the road in Tucson no-less.
#8 Kentucky vs Xavier, XAV 3-2 F/10, Tue
- A bit of a surprise here but Xavier has had an improving team for the past couple of seasons. It’s an upset, yes but more of a resume builder for the X-men instead of a sign of bad things to come for the Bat Cats.
#9 Ole Miss vs Memphis, OLE 8-6, Tue
- Just your run of the mill midweek win for the Rebs as they continue to improve off of a solid weekend.
#10 Texas A&M vs Stephen F. Austin, TAM 11-4, Tue
- See above, not much to see here.
#13 Vanderbilt
- vs Presbyterian, VAN 7-1, Tue
- vs Presbyterian, VAN 15-2, Wed
- Two solid wins against an overmatched Blue Hose team
#21 Mississippi State @ Jackson St, MSU 12-1, Wed
- Well if you just want a team to follow for the rest of season, let me introduce you to the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Tuesday morning, the Diamond Dogs skipper resigned from his post after a lackluster (at best) weekend in Hattiesburg and all sorts of rumors swirling around him, which led to former Kentucky Head Coach Gary Henderson taking the helm. This was a solid performance from a team that was itching to just play baseball again. This is a team that still has Omaha talent and has a head guy that can take them there; however can they ignore all the distractions to get there.
#23 LSU vs New Orleans, LSU 14-6, Wed
- Good bounce back win for the Fightin Tigers to get back to the .500 mark.
Tennessee vs Lipscomb, UT 8-5, Tue
- It was what it needed to be for UT
South Carolina
- vs North Florida, USC 5-2, Tue
- vs Winthrop, USC 15-2, Wed
- In the midweek, just win. Good job Gamecocks.
Alabama vs Mid Tenn State, ALA 4-0, Tue
- Alabama is still undefeated, just your daily check.
Georgia @ Kennesaw State, UGA 14-4, Wed
- A better win than it seems after first look. This is a Fighting Owls team that has made some solid noise in the NCAA tournament in recent years and for the Dawgs to hang a 14 spot on the road is impressive.
Missouri @ Miami (FL), MIZ 9-0, Wed
- There was a lot of love thrown Miami’s way as a comeback story after they missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since Nixon was in office (and also pre-Punt, Bama, Punt) and also since this is long time coach Jim Morris’s last season but apparently Mizzou didn’t get that memo. Fantastic road win in a very tough place to play.