CHAPEL HILL | With the season on the line, Auburn will likely turn to a pair of freshmen to lead the team to the College World Series for the first time since 1997.
Butch Thompson wasn’t ready to name a starter directly after the Tigers 2-0 loss to North Carolina in game two of the Chapel Hill Super Regional Sunday, but he named four candidates to pitch Monday beginning with freshmen Richard Fitts and Brooks Fuller.
“I think Fitts and Fuller are a couple of guys that are an option. Fitts, for sure, he threw six innings in a regional last week,” Thompson said. “I would imagine (Cody) Greenhill down to potentially the last day of the year, I think he’ll give us everything he’s got. Tanner (Burns) could be available. That’s four guys right there and we’ll circle back through."
Fitts was one of the heroes of Auburn’s Atlanta Regional win, beating No. 3 national seed Georgia Tech last Saturday by throwing 6.0 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Fitts, however, has a 12.15 ERA in five starts and a 2.56 ERA in 13 relief appearances.
Fuller hasn’t pitched since facing LSU in the SEC Tournament May 23, throwing just three pitches including a walk-off wild pitch that eliminated Auburn. Fuller is 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA. His best outing came in a start at Texas A&M April 13 in which he threw 6.0 shutout innings to earn the win. He has a 4.82 ERA in eight starts and an 8.44 ERA in 12 relief appearances.
"It’s like a year and those are two very experienced guys on our club. They’ve both got over 30 innings, I want to say,” said Ryan Watson, who threw 2.2 scoreless innings Sunday. “They can handle it and I think either one of them can step up for us if we need them to.”
Greenhill earned his 12th save of the season allowing two runs on three hits in the final two innings of Saturday’s 11-7 comeback win over UNC. Burns has started 14 games for Auburn this season but is limited to just an inning or two of late relief during the Super Regional due to shoulder soreness.
Monday’s winner-take-all game is scheduled for noon CT on ESPN2.
TOUGH CALLS: Auburn was on the short end of a couple of close calls in Sunday’s loss. In the first inning, Horn was called for a balk when he stopped his motion and the ball dropped out of his hand. Thompson believes Horn heard a ‘balk’ or ‘time’ call from the stands.
“I’m not sure, but our pitcher stopped his delivery,” Thompson said. “And then it seemed like we weren’t going to do a whole lot about it. We had the same instance in our Regional last week. I think it was the Georgia Tech and Coastal contest. Kind of aware and saw it and knew what happened pretty quick. I just wanted to make sure that we at least, can we address it or help it. I was worried about it happening on the next two plays.”
Conor Davis led off the eighth inning with a single and was pinch-run for by Jarrett Eaton. Will Holland followed with a ground ball to the third baseman, who threw to second where Eaton collided with second baseman Ashton McGee, who was standing in front of the bag, and McGee’s throw to first sailed over the first baseman’s head. After review, Holland was called out at first due to interference, ending a potential rally for the Tigers.
"I think our umpires, once they go over there, they’re getting information from wherever. I’m not sure it’s Charlotte or where they’re housed,” Thompson said. “At the end of the play once they made the decision, I just got forced play, slide violation.
“I haven’t seen the play and I don’t know anything about it. I didn’t see anything out of the realm watching it live. This video brings a whole new element into what really happened. I’m looking forward to watching the play. That’s the only thing I heard and we moved on immediately.”
LEADOFF ISSUES: Auburn’s hitters were 1-of-9 to leadoff an inning in Sunday’s game with Davis’ single in the eighth the only hit. Leadoff hitter Judd Ward has hit the ball hard several times but is 0-for-9 in the Super Regional.
On the other hand, UNC’s top two hitters in the order, Michael Busch and Aaron Sabato, are a combined 4-for-16 in the Super Regional, but 2-for-2 with two walks and four runs scored in the first inning of both games. They helped give the Tar Heels a 3-0 lead Saturday and a 2-0 lead Sunday.
