AUBURN, Ala. – In a game of back and forth following a long rain delay, the Rebels couldn’t hold off a late run by the Tigers as No. 18 Ole Miss (33-15, 12-11 SEC) fell to Auburn (26-19, 8-15) in game two of the weekend series on Saturday.
Leading 5-3 in the sixth, Auburn pushed three runs home in the sixth and two runs home in the seventh to take the win over the Rebels and even the weekend series at a game each.
Aaron Greenwood (3-3) took the loss in relief for Ole Miss, allowing two runs on two hits with a walk in 0.1 inning of work.
Reliever Justin Camp (5-1) picked up the win for the Tigers with 2.1 innings of work as he allowed one run on three hits with two strikeouts. Terrance Dedrick then picked up his sixth save of the season, closing out the final 2.2 innings for Auburn.
“We just couldn’t slow them down offensively tonight,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “Auburn played very well tonight and came out and beat us. Chris Ellis was a bright spot for us and had some of the best stuff we’ve seen from him this season. Auston Bousfieldhad a nice night at the plate and was really swinging the bat well.”
Auburn got on the board in the first, capitalizing on a two-out rally to take the early lead. Following a pitch that looked to be the third strike to end the inning, the Tigers’ Garrett Cooper came up with a single to start the inning before a pair of walks loaded the bases. Jordan Ebert then hit a single off the end of the bat into center field to bring two runs home before Ole Miss would get out of the inning trailing 2-0.
Ole Miss cut into the lead in the second, bringing a run home when Austin Knight grounded out to second with men at the corners. Auston Bousfield, who doubled to open the inning and stole third, scored on the play and the Rebels trailed 2-1.
The Rebels continued to chip away at the lead, tying the game in the third on a bases-loaded single to short from Bousfield. The line drive got away from the Tiger shortstop as Turner flashed in front of him, causing him to drop it and roll into shallow left. Austin Anderson scored from third on the play, but Turner was thrown out at home to put two outs on the board as Auburn kept the Rebels from adding any more runs and kept the game tied at two.
Auburn moved back in top with another two-out score in the fourth. Blake Austin came up with a two-out double to start the rally before Hunter Kelley came up with an RBI single to center on a full-count pitch to drive in Austin and give the Tigers the 3-2 lead.
Ole Miss moved back in front with a three-run fifth inning, sparked by a pair of singles from Mathis and Anderson to start the inning and send Auburn to the bullpen for right-hander Justin Camp. Turner then doubled to left to drive in Mathis and leave two in scoring position with the game tied at three.
A groundout from Mistone then brought Anderson home and moved Turner to third as the Rebels took the one-run lead. Bousfield collected his third hit on the night in the next at bat, scoring Turner and putting Ole Miss on top 5-3 after the top of the fifth.
The Tigers continued the back-and-forth with a two-run home run from Blake Austin in the sixth that tied the game at five. Auburn wasn’t done, however, as a wild pitch and a hit batter put men at the corners. Cullen Wacker then hit a sac fly to left to give the Tigers the 6-5 lead before Ole Miss would turn to the bullpen for the second time in the inning. Right-hander Chris Ellis came in to relieve Greenwood and got a double-play ball to end the inning with the Rebels down one run.
Auburn continued to build on the lead in the seventh inning with an RBI double from Ryan Tella following a fielding error at second that allowed Jordan Ebert to reach with one out. Tella then scored on a two-out double down the left field line from Austin to take the Tiger lead out to 8-5.
The Tigers then closed the game out, holding Ole Miss off the board the rest of the way to even the series heading into Sunday’s series finale at 1:00 p.m.
— Ole Miss Sports Information
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