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Auburn blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning, but senior center fielder Ryan Tella hit a two-out walk-off single to give the Tigers a 6-5 win over Mercer Sunday at Plainsman Park. The victory finished off a sweep over a solid Bears team.
In the bottom of the ninth, Jordan Ebert led off with a single and stole second to get in scoring position with nobody out. Anfernee Grier popped out, and Damon Haecker moved Ebert to third with a sacrifice bunt. After Damek Tomscha was intentionally walked and Blake Austin was hit by a pitch with a 1-2 count, Tella came up with the bases loaded and a chance to be a hero. He quickly fell behind 0-2, but fouled off three pitches and battled back to a 2-2 count. He finally got a pitch to handle and slapped a hard ground ball single through the left side, scoring Ebert and sparking a celebration for the Tigers.
Auburn (9-6) took a 5-2 lead into the top of the ninth, but Terrance Dedrick wasn't able to close it out. After a double, a double with an error, a single, a sac bunt and a single, Mercer was down 5-4 with runners at first and third. Another sac bunt tied the game and put the potential go-ahead run at second with two away. Haecker committed a throwing error from deep in the hole at short to put runners on the corners again, but Dedrick finaly got out of the inning with a swinging strikeout. When the damage was done, the Bears (12-5) had three runs on four hits and two errors in the inning.
In a repeat of Saturday's first inning, the Tigers opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with a two-out homer over the monster in left to take a 1-0 lead. After Mercer took the lead with two in the top of the fifth thanks to two errors, but Auburn bounced back in the sixth. A squeeze bunt from Haecker, a single from Austin and a bases-loaded HBP from pinch-hitter Jackson Burgreen brought in three runs. The Tigers added a much-needed insurance run in the eighth when Tella led off with a triple and Burgreen drove him in with another squeeze.
Tella had a huge day, going 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Ebert was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two stolen bases. After his homer, Tomscha finished 1-for-2 with two free passes.
Michael O'Neal got the start on the mound for Auburn and pitched well enough to win. O'Neal went 6 2/3 innings and gave up two unearned run on three hits. He struck out four without walking a batter. Jay Wade struck out the only hitter he faced, and Trey Cochran-Gill allowed two hits and struck out one in one inning. Dedrick (1-1) stole the win with an ugly final line of one inning, five hits, three earned runs and one strikeout.
Eric Nyquist pitched 5 1/3 innings for the Bears, allowing four runs on six hits and picking up two Ks. Ben Lumsden (0-2) took the loss after giving up two runs on three hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. He struck out one.
Auburn hits the road for a midweek game at Kennesaw State Tuesday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT.
Mercer 5 (12-5) |
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Player | ab | r | h | rbi | bb | so | po | a | lob | |
LAGARDE, Sasha cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
BARRETT, Austin 1b/c | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | |
BACKLUND, Nick dh | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
YOUNG, Chesny 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
MASSI, Michael 2b/ss | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
MADDEN, Charlie c | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
EDGEWORTH, Danny ph | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
LOWE, Nathaniel 1b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
WORKMAN, Derrick rf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
LEWIS, Kyle lf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
MEEDER, Matt ss | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | |
MOORHOUSE, Nate ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
BONIN, Devin 2b | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
NYQUIST, Eric p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
PITTMAN, Morgan p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
GLAZE, Stephen p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
LUMSDEN, Ben p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Totals | 35 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 26 | 10 | 7 | |
Auburn 6 (9-6) |
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Player | ab | r | h | rbi | bb | so | po | a | lob | |
Anfernee Grier rf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
Damon Haecker ss | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
Damek Tomscha 1b | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
Blake Austin c | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | |
Ryan Tella cf | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
Dan Glevenyak 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
Daniel Robert dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Keegan Thompson ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Jackson Burgreen ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Connor Short 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |
Jordan Ebert lf | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
Michael O'Neal p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Jay Wade p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Trey Cochran-Gill p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Terrance Dedrick p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Totals | 32 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 27 | 10 | 9 |
Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Mercer.............. 000 020 003 - 5 10 0 Auburn.............. 100 003 011 - 6 10 2 ------------------------------------------- Note: 2 outs, 3 runners LOB when the game ended. |
E - Grier, A.(2); Short, C.(4). DP - MER 1. LOB - MER 7; Auburn 9. 2B - MASSI(2); MADDEN(2). 3B - EDGEWORTH; Tella, R.(1). HR - Tomscha, D.(3). HBP - WORKMAN; Austin, B.; Burgreen, J.. SH - LAGARDE(3); WORKMAN(2); LEWIS(2); Haecker, D. 2(5); Tomscha, D.(1); Burgreen, J.(1). SB - Austin, B.(3); Ebert, J. 2(4). |
Mercer | ip | h | r | er | bb | so | wp | bk | hbp | ibb | ab | bf | fo | go | np |
NYQUIST, Eric | 5.1 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 22 | 6 | 7 | 82 |
PITTMAN, Morgan | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
GLAZE, Stephen | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
LUMSDEN, Ben L,0-2 | 2.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 53 |
Auburn | ip | h | r | er | bb | so | wp | bk | hbp | ibb | ab | bf | fo | go | np |
Michael O'Neal | 6.2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 25 | 9 | 6 | 92 |
Jay Wade | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
Trey Cochran-Gill | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
Terrance Dedrick W,1-1 | 1.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 25 |
Win - Dedrick, T. (1-1). Loss - LUMSDEN (0-2). Save - None. HBP - by GLAZE (Burgreen, J.); by O'Neal, M. (WORKMAN); by LUMSDEN (Austin, B.). Pitches/strikes: NYQUIST 82/55; PITTMAN 8/3; GLAZE 18/10; LUMSDEN 53/29; O'Neal, M. 92/57; Wade, J. 5/3; Cochran-Gill 19/12; Dedrick, T. 25/16.
Umpires - HP: Jay Furlong 1B: Jay Pierce 3B: Darion Padgett |