OXFORD, Miss. – Auburn scored 11 runs on 11 hits in the last two innings but fell in the series finale at No. 4 Ole Miss, 19-11, Sunday at Swayze Field.
“I kind of told (the team) it’s probably time to adjust some things and to look at some things we’re doing,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “I’m in for whatever type of changes of we need to make. I’m going to hang in there with them.”
After being held scoreless on four hits in the first seven frames, Auburn scored nine runs on eight hits in the eighth inning. Brayton Brown provided the big blast with a three-run home run. Ryan Bliss and Rankin Woley each collected a pair of hits in the frame as 13 Tigers came to the plate.
Ole Miss answered with five runs in the home half of the eighth to extend the lead to 19-9, and Auburn capped off the scoring in the contest with two runs on three straight hits to start the ninth. Bobby Peirce hit a RBI single to left and Josh Hall added a sacrifice fly.
“You just can’t spot a top-five team at their place six or seven runs right out of the gate and expect to come back and win those ballgames no matter how much you try to compete with your at-bats throughout the ballgame,” Thompson added.
Five Tigers recorded multiple hits in the game, led by three hits from Woley, who wasted no time in extending his hit streak to 12 with a single in the first. Bliss turned in two hits for the 37th time in the last 73 games dating back to 2019, including the sixth straight.
Trace Bright got the start for the Tigers and retired the Rebels in order in the first. However, he allowed the first five Ole Miss batters of the second inning to reach, and the home team ultimately took a 7-0 lead on five hits and three walks in the frame.
Ole Miss added to its lead with a solo homer in the fourth and ultimately score three runs in the frame to make it a 10-0 ballgame.
Sophomore right-hander Seb Thomas was effective in 2.0 innings of relief, allowing just one hit with a walk and a strikeout.
After Thomas was removed from the game, Ole Miss tacked on four runs on three walks, two hits and an error to make it 14-0 through six.
Will Morrison made his season debut and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings. He retired four of the five batters he faced.
Auburn returns home before taking on South Alabama in the Max Clash Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT in Montgomery’s Riverwalk Stadium.