Auburn entered the bottom of the ninth looking in great shape to come away with a victory over Mississippi State in College World Series action Sunday night in Omaha.
The Tigers had a 4-1 lead, but the Bulldogs’ Elijah Macnamee ripped a double down the left field line to score one, and move another runner to third.
Mississippi State added one more run to make it a 4-3 game, but it appeared the Tigers would still win the game when the Bulldogs’ Dustin Skelton hit a routine groundball to Auburn third baseman Edouard Julien with two outs. But Julien took a long time to get rid of the ball — when he could’ve also just tagged McNamee — and his throw to first base was nowhere close. This allowed McNamee to come around and score the tying run.
This was followed by a walk, and an infield single on a groundball hit to Julien. And with the bases loaded, the Bulldogs’ Marcus Gilbert hit a bouncer that went off pitcher Tanner Burns’ glove and then off second baseman Ryan Bliss’ glove for a walk-off Mississippi State victory.
That would be a frustrating loss in any game, but especially to open the College World Series. And it’s a great — albeit fortunate — comeback win for Auburn.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.