Kevin Patterson's seventh-inning three-run homerun completed the Auburn baseball team's comeback on Saturday afternoon.
Slade Smith might have had words with John Pawlowski if the Auburn coach wasn’t going to let him take the mound in the ninth Saturday afternoon.
The sophomore from Fort Payne had already put up six solid innings in relief as the Tigers clawed back into the game against Ole Miss and took the lead, and he wasn’t letting anyone else finish the game off for him.
“I would’ve argued with (Pawlowski) if he wouldn’t let me,” Smith said. “The whole team has worked so hard. To see it pay off like that was really rewarding.”
Fortunately for Smith, Pawlowski felt the same way, and his confidence was rewarded in a 1-2-3 ninth that sealed a 9-7 Tigers win to take the series against Ole Miss at Plainsman Park.
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Auburn fell 10-7 to Ole Miss on Friday night at Plainsman Park
Zach Blatt’s second collegiate start didn’t go quite as smoothly as his first.
After picking up a win against LSU last weekend, the junior from Opelika surrendered seven runs on seven hits in the first three innings against Ole Miss, putting the Rebels well on their way to a 10-7 win at Plainsman Park on Friday night.
Blatt (2-3) gave up a solo shot to Preston Overbey in the second, then four runs with two outs in the third on an RBI single by Matt Tracy and a three-run home run by Matt Snyder.
A blister on Blatt’s finger that he suffered against LSU could have still been bothering him Friday.
“I just thought his location, he made a few mistakes,” Tigers coach John Pawlowski said. “(Blatt) says (the blister) is not bothering him, but he gave us everything he could do today. He’s a competitor and wants to be out there.”
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Bobby Andrews finished the game with a four hits and three RBI as Auburn moved to within a half-game of first place.
Bobby Andrews let a line drive go through him for a three-base error in the second inning, dropped a high fly in foul territory in the fourth and woefully misplayed another sinking liner in the seventh, leading to the double that gave Ole Miss a one-run lead Thursday night.
That’s how the freshman’s night in left field looked.
Here’s how it looked at the plate: 4-for-5 with three RBI, including a liner of Rebel pitcher Eric Callender’s calf that plated the final Tiger run in a 6-3 win at Plainsman Park.
“I didn’t have the best day in the outfield,” Andrews said. “I thought I might need to make up for that with my bat.”
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Junior Blatt seems to be turning a corner, after struggling the last 2 years while at Auburn
Zach Blatt wore a baseball uniform nearly every day as a child, almost to the point where people began to wonder if he owned any other clothes.
He would wake his father, Wayne, up at the crack of dawn and drag him out to a diamond to throw with him.
“Every day, the hottest day of the summer, we’d be out there,” Wayne Blatt said. “He ‘d say, ‘Daddy, I want to play in the SEC, and I want to play for Auburn.’”
Things went according to plan throughout a stellar career at Opelika High, one that ended in a Class 6A state finals appearance, the 6A Pitcher of the Year award and a scholarship to Auburn.
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