Auburn Athletics
Auburn baseball drops finale against Ole Miss Rebels
AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn fell behind early and couldn’t make up the difference, ultimately falling 15-2 in the series finale against Ole Miss Saturday afternoon at Plainsman Park.
The game was played in front of a capacity crowd of 4,096, marking the first sellout since February 16, 2019.
Ole Miss (15-2, 2-1 SEC) started the scoring in the contest with three unearned runs in the third, and the Tigers (14-6, 1-2 SEC) chased the Rebels’ lead for the remainder of the game.
“We felt good going into the ballgame,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “We thought we threw our best at them, but they left no doubt today. That’s why they’re the No. 1 team in the country.”
Blake Rambusch extended his season-best hitting streak to 10 games and collected multiple hits for the 10th time this season. Kason Howell recorded multiple hits on the day for the seventh time this season, one of which was a double.
“We hit a couple hard balls early,” said Thompson. “Our at-bats just didn’t keep up as the game went on like they did last night.”
Junior righty Trace Bright (2-1, 1.98) started on the mound for the Tigers, retiring seven of the first eight batters he faced with five strikeouts and just two walks in 4.1 innings. The Montgomery native struck out the side to start the game.
Opposite Bright, Ole Miss starter Jack Dougherty (1-0, 4.26) earned the win in five innings pitched.
Ole Miss’ previously stated three unearned runs came after a two out walk and fielding miscue, followed by a pair of RBI singles.
Auburn immediately answered in the bottom of the third. Howell’s double was followed by an RBI single from Ryan Dyal to cut the deficit to two. However, the Tigers stranded a pair of runners with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning, marking one of four innings Auburn stranded multiple runners.
Bright had retired five straight Rebels entering the top of the fifth, but Ole Miss extended its lead with four in the fifth and an additional four in the sixth, making the score 11-1.
In the sixth, designated hitter Brooks Carlson singled to left field and advanced to second after Mike Bello reached first on a walk. Later in the inning, Howell hit an RBI single, bringing home Carlson and chipping away at the deficit, 11-2. This ended the scoring for the Tigers.
Ole Miss scored in each of the last three innings to wrap up the series.
The Tigers will travel to Riverwalk Stadium to face South Alabama (13-3) Tuesday in Montgomery. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.