College World Series Review - Louisville

Game 7– #7 Louisville vs Auburn

• Tuesday/Wednesday – 5-3 L

This is the article that makes me not want to write. The last article of the season. This one though is filled with even more promise than the hurt-filled one last season. But before we look ahead, let’s go through what happened in Omaha that sent the Tigers home. Bailey Horn took the mound for the Tigers yesterday and did a solid job of keeping a dangerous Louisville lineup off the board for the most part and keeping the Tigers in the game. Horn ended up going 3.1 innings giving up 4 runs (only 2 earned) on 3 hits with 3 Ks. The downfall for Horn and subsequently for the game, happened in the 4^th inning when Louisville was able to load the bases with 1 out and forced Horn out of the game. Elliott Anderson came on in the rain and gave up a walk which gave Louisville a 2-1 lead. Following that, a grounder that got away from Ryan Bliss scored 2 and gave the Cardinals a 4-1 lead into the Top of the 5th before the game was called due to rain and forced it to resume this morning at 11 AM.

Upon the restart, both teams took a little bit to get back into the groove, but the Tigers started things off with a Conor Davis double that scored Ryan Bliss from 1^st and cut into the lead at 4-2 in the 7th. Louisville, however, would get it right back in the 8^th with a single run, to make it 5-2. Auburn would try to rally with a Conor Davis solo shot and a Steven Williams double but it was not to be today and the Cardinals held on for a 5-3 win to eliminate the Tigers from the College World Series. Auburn finishes the season at 38-28 and a NCAA tournament mark of 5-3.

On Deck

• Reflection on 2019

What a roller coaster ride. 3 innings in to the season, Auburn found out a Top MLB prospect pitcher was out and he wouldn’t throw again for the Tigers. In the past, this would have sunk Auburn. Not now. Not this program. 4 weeks later, another pitcher that emerged as a dominant #2 felt tightness in his forearm and was out until late Apri or May. Again, that didn’t sink this team. It didn’t stop them from fighting. THEN, their Ace felt shoulder tightness on a rubber mat that some people call a baseball field in Nashville and wasn’t the same, and didn’t start a game in the postseason. Add to that, a basic team wide slump from the offensive stars from last season. And on top of that, add a loss of a beloved Voice that had overseen everything from his perch behind the left handed batter’s box at Plainsman Park for 25+ years with his broadcast partner and best friend. That Auburn team absorbed all of those things and made it to Omaha. I didn’t even mention a fallen officer that worked security for many years that was taken way too soon or the tornadoes that ran though Lee County this spring. All of those things added on as well as things this program worked through and fought for each other, fought for the fans, fought to get this program on the level we all believed it was and could be in the nation’s eyes. Last year was a big step. This year was an even bigger step. And I believe in 2020, it will be an even bigger step.

We will dive in to that statement after the July 12^th signing deadline for the Majors but for now, I personally want to say thank you. Thank you to our two seniors Blake Schilleci and Brett Olson. Thank you for being so unselfish and wanting to leave your mark on this program, trust me, you have. Thank you to Will Holland, Davis Daniel and any of the other MLB draft picks that decide to sign with the teams that drafted them. You leave a huge hole that we will do our best to fill, but you will always have a place at your home, Plainsman Park. To the returning guys, you know what the goal looks like now. The task is getting back to that mythical place called Omaha. Below is a list of the Auburn signees that will be joining the team for Fall practice in a few months along with the projected returning players and other names to way until July 12^th. I will be tweeting out any news I get or hear on my personal twitter feed (@Drewmac20AU) and if something major hits we will throw it up on the main account. Thank you again for reading with me this season but more importantly, thank you to the 2019 Auburn Tiger Baseball team. You made us believe that we deserve to be in Omaha, because we do!