Auburn uses safety squeeze to take down LSU in big series victory
LSU centerfielder Leon Landry was lined up mere feet behind closer Matty Ott, the rest of the Bengal Tigers’ infielders were lined up spitting distance from the plate and Auburn still had three outs to burn with runners on first and third in the ninth inning of a tied game Sunday at Plainsman Park.
Coach John Pawlowski was seemingly playing into the defending national champions’ hands when he signaled in a safety squeeze to Justin Fradejas.
“I can’t say I was totally surprised by it. That guy has been bunting all weekend,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “If that’s what they felt was the best play, then that’s their prerogative to run a play like that.
There was no second-guessing after Casey McElroy slid head-first under Micah Gibbs’ tag at home plate for a momentous game-winning run, which not only made for a feel-good, 6-5 win on a sun-drenched Sunday, but also a major statement in Auburn’s series victory over one of the SEC’s best.
“That was a lot of fun,” pitcher Austin Hubbard said. “I think we deserved that one. That’s a heck of a ballclub over there. It was a great baseball game and it just feels really good to come out on the good side of it.”
Twelve games into its conference schedule, Auburn (22-11, 7-5 SEC) is just one game out of first place in the SEC West behind LSU (26-6, 8-4) and Arkansas. The victory marked Auburn’s first series victory over LSU at Plainsman Park since 1998 and gave the Bengal Tigers just their second set of back-to-back losses in a 135-game span.
Pawlowski let his players enjoy themselves with a raucous post-game celebration at home plate, but delivered a swift reality check moments later when they gathered in the outfield.
“Every win in SEC play is important, but I told our guys that we have to keep it all in perspective, and you keep it in perspective by understanding that this league is so tough,” Pawlowski said. “I think one of the things our kids will be able to do from this is to take some confidence.”
Pawlowski certainly displayed confidence in Fradejas’ bunting ability with the game on the line. With McElroy on third base and Kevin Patterson on first, the Tigers had three outs to burn and only two outfielders to worry about, but Pawlowski had no trouble continuing his pattern of calling for bunts, no matter the hitter nor the fielding alignment.
“I think Justin handles the bat, and I think that was our best option,” Pawlowski said. “If he didn’t do it on the first time, we were maybe going to try something else.”
There was no need, as Fradejas made firm contact and pushed it to first baseman Blake Dean. Dean fielded the ball cleanly, but had a tough time getting it out of his glove. His toss to Gibbs sailed a bit, too, allowing McElroy to slide just under the tag.
“I got lucky on the slide,” McElroy said. “It was pretty nerve-wracking.”
The same could be said for the entire day, as both teams went back and forth in a game that had a playoff-like atmosphere.
LSU jumped starter Grant Dayton for three quick runs in the first inning, but missed on an opportunity to blow it open when Landry was caught stealing second base and Ryan Hanover followed with a pop out to end the threat.
Dayton allowed just one more run through the rest of his start, which stopped just short of going five innings. By then, though, Auburn worked its way into control with a Fradejas RBI single in the second, a Hunter Morris two-out solo home run in the third and two more runs in the fourth inning.
Patterson’s solo home run in the sixth inning put Auburn ahead, 5-4, and appeared to be enough with Hubbard on the mound. Hubbard entered in the sixth inning with two runners on base and no out, retired the next eight batters he faced, but surrendered the game-tying home run to Johnny Dishon in the ninth.
“They’re a great ballclub. They’re going to hit your mistakes. And they did,” Hubbard said. “But luckily we’ve got each others’ backs.”
0 Comments
You can be the first one to leave a comment.