(OMAHA, Neb.)—You can have thrilling. Thrilling is something that is relatively frequent. Then there’s what happened at TD Ameritrade Park Sunday night.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs trailed by three runs heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. Auburn had been clicking on all cylinders. What ensued was one of the crazier finishes at a College World Series game in recent history.
The game started off fairly normally. Ethan Small, first round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers, came out for the Bulldogs and struck out his first five batters. Mississippi State was getting men on base in the early innings, but Auburn starter Jack Owen was not allowing any to cross home. The pitchers seemed comfortable early.
However, this didn’t last too long. Edouard Julien smashed a 429-foot home run, the longest in TD Ameritrade Park history, for the Tigers. With a runner already on, Auburn now led 2-0.
From there, it became the Jack Owen show. Every time Owen allowed a man to get on base, he seemed to find a way to get himself out of a jam. He lasted five innings, allowing just one run that came after he had already exited the game. Auburn got what they needed from their Sophomore starter.
Julien continued to make his presence known as well during this stretch as he added an RBI single to his stat line, making the score 3-0 Auburn.
As mentioned before, Mississippi State did end up getting an ever-important run after Owen’s departure. Gunner Halter singled to drive in a run, making the score 3-1. However, the Bulldogs left the bases loaded to end the inning. Despite getting a run, it was Auburn that took the momentum back, not Mississippi State.
Mississippi State missing out on chances became something of a theme through the first seven innings, as they stranded a runner on third base in five of the first seven innings.
Auburn would tally another run in the eight inning as Will Holland scored on an error to make the lead 4-1. The Tigers would take that 4-1 lead into the ninth inning.
It would be that ninth inning where the incredible comeback was made, or where everything took a turn for the worst—depending on perspective.
Jake Mangum got things started with a leadoff double. After Westburg struck out and Allen walked, Elijah MacNamee doubled to give Mississippi State their first run of the ninth. Justin Foscue came up to the plate next and grounded out, but did drive in a run in doing so, making the score 4-3. Then things really heated up.
On a seemingly routine play to end the game, Tigers’ third basemen Edouard Julien, who had a great performace in his own right otherwise, made a costly throwing error over to first base. It allowed MacNamee to score and tie the game.
At this point, the game was either going to extra innings or Mississippi State was going to walk it off. The Bulldogs were in no mood to play extras. After Rowedy Jordan was intentionally walked, Josh Hatcher legged out an infield single to re-load the bases.
The title of hero went to Marshall Gilbert who knocked in the game-winning run with a single. The Bulldogs rallied to score four runs in the ninth to shock Auburn, who had controlled much of the game.
The Bulldogs are no stranger to the comebacks, as they lead the country in comeback wins with 28.
Auburn will now take on Louisville in an elimination game Tuesday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. Mississippi State will face Vanderbilt on Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m., in the Bulldogs’ second-straight SEC matchup of the CWS.
