HOOVER | A series of mishaps spelled doom for Auburn Thursday.
LSU scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch and an error to earn a walk-off 4-3 win over Auburn in an elimination game of the 2019 SEC Tournament at the Hoover Met.
Auburn entered the ninth with a 3-2 lead but back-to-back singles by Giovanni DiGiacomo and Saul Garza off Cody Greenhill and an advancement on a throw gave LSU runners on second and third with no outs.
Greenhill retired the next batter on a line out to left field before Auburn brought in Brooks Fuller to try and end the threat. Fuller’s first two pitches to Chris Reid bounced in the dirt and the third did the same, getting away from catcher Matt Scheffler, who couldn’t locate the ball allowing DiGiacomo to score from third.
First baseman Rankin Woley slid in to grab the ball but his throw home sailed wide allowing Garza to score on a throwing error.
Auburn coach Butch Thompson said he’s never had a team lose on a wild pitch that turned into two runs.
“Unusual, tough way to lose it,” Thompson said. “Once the throw was made toward home plate he was going to be safe to tie it, and then of course the ball was not stopped and then it gave them an opportunity to score the winning run right there. We’ll get back tonight, circle the wagons, keep working and wait for Monday to see where we’re going and start our preparation.”
LSU coach Paul Mainieri was just as incredulous about the play.
"I told the players after the game that there's a saying in baseball that every day you show up to the field, you're liable to see something you've never seen before. And I can't recall, in 37 years, that I've ever seen a walk-off win with two runs scoring on a short wild pitch like we did. But in all honesty, after last night, we'll take whatever we can get,” said Mainieri, whose LSU squad was coming off a 17-inning loss to Mississippi State in a game that lasted past 3 a.m.
Auburn, which falls to 33-25, will learn its postseason fate when the NCAA Regionals are announced Monday morning.
Greenhill (2-3) took the loss allowing three runs, two earned, in 2.2 innings out of the bullpen.
LSU scored a run in the first and held that lead until the seventh when Auburn struck for two runs with two outs. An infield single by Kason Howell scored Woley from third and Judd Ward followed with a double down the left field line to score Howell from first.
The lead didn’t last long as LSU tied it up in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Josh Smith off Greenhill.
But AU wouldn’t back down scoring a go-ahead run in the eighth. Scheffler started the rally with a double down the right field line with one out. After a groundout, Steven Williams was intentionally walked to bring up Edouard Julien, Auburn’s RBI leader. Julien lined a single to centerfield to score Scheffler.
Ward was 3 of 5 with one RBI, Conor Davis 2 of 5, Julien 1 of 4 with one RBI and Howell 1 of 4 with one RBI.
Auburn had eight hits but Thompson pointed to AU’s failure to score in the first as sending a poor tone for the game. Will Holland had one of his four strikeouts with runners on first and third and one out while Woley lined out with the bases loaded in two outs.
“I think there was a significance to not being able to scratch something in the first inning of today’s ballgame,” Thompsons said. “That could have changed the outcome and the entire rhythm of the contest. We didn’t get the timely hit there early, but I give a ton of credit to LSU and their players. They came out and fought tooth and nail after being here late last night.”
Auburn starter Jack Owen held LSU to a run on five hits in 5.2 innings with five strikeouts and one walk. He threw 102 pitches.
The full 64-team NCAA field will be announced Monday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPNU.
