Creede Simpson’s Ninth Inning Three-Run Home Run Forces A Winner-Take-All Finale

[AUSportTalk 4]

Down by a run, facing elimination and down to its his

strike, Auburn’s Creede Simpson crushed a 1-2 Tomas Cruz pitch over the

green monster in left-center to send Auburn to an 11-10 win over Clemson

and force a winner-take-all regional finale on Monday night at 6pm at

Plainsman Park.

“I was trying to get the barrel on the ball. I knew I had a great

opportunity, and I did not want to waste it,” Simpson said. “Once I saw

it in the air, I knew it had a good chance to go over. It was an awesome

feeling.”

Simpson, who had entered the game in the bottom as a defensive

substitution for Trent Mummey in the bottom of the seventh, laced his

fifth home run of the year in his first at bat of the regional, sending

the crowd of 3,326 into a frenzy and giving the nation’s top home run

hitting team at least one more day in its magical season.

“That was an amazing game when you start breaking it down and look at

all the things that happened over the course of the game,” Auburn Head

Coach John Pawlowski said. “Somehow our guys kept battling and found a

way to win…Creede steps up for us and delivered a huge home run. The

crowd was absolutely incredible. When the fans were on their feet

screaming, it was the loudest I’ve ever heard that stadium.”

Austin Hubbard (6-2) picked up the win out of the bullpen for Auburn

(43-20), throwing the final 4 2/3 innings and keeping Clemson to five

runs (three earned) on eight hits and two walks, striking out three,

just enough for Auburn to pick up its 10th one-run victory of the

season.

“That was the highlight of my baseball career, with the great crowd and

Creede’s home run, the way that we battled,” Hubbard said. “This was a

huge win against an unbelievable baseball team. They are going to come

back tomorrow and try to do what we did today. We got to celebrate a

little in the locker room tonight, then go home, get some sleep and find

a way to win another game.”

Cruz (3-3) took the loss for Clemson, allowing two inherited runners and

three runners of his own to score in 2 1/3 innings on four hits, two

walks and two strike outs.

Down 9-8 heading to the top of the ninth, Cruz retired the first two

hitters he faced before Justin Bryant (1-for-2, 3 BB) worked a

four-pitch walk and Justin Fradejas (3-for-5, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI) lofted one

that just tipped off the end of Clemson second baseman Mike Freeman’s

glove to put runners on the corners. That’s when Simpson stepped to the

plate. After watching Cruz push one wide for a ball and then buzzing one

in for a called strike, Simpson fouled one off before driving the ball

over the wall for what proved to be the game winning hit for the local

product out of Auburn High School.

Clemson (40-22) did not go down without a fight as its first two hitters

in the bottom of the ninth both singled off Hubbard and then moved up 90

feet on a Spencer Kieboom (1-for-3, 2B, R, RBI) sacrifice bunt. Hubbard

then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Richie Shaffer (1-for-5, 2 R) to

race home with Clemson’s 10th run, just sliding in under Hubbard’s tag.

Clemson would put the winning run on first as Freeman (3-for-4, 2B, 2 R,

RBI) drew a two-out walk but Hubbard got Jeff Schaus (1-for-5, RBI) to

pop up the first pitch to Justin Hargett at second, sealing the win for

Auburn (43-20).

Auburn took a 2-0 lead in the first as Brian Fletcher (3-for-5, 2B, HR,

2 R, 3 RBI) doubled in Trent Mummy (2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 R) and then scored

on Hunter Morris’ (3-for-5, 2 R) single.

Clemson, which was the home team for the game, got a run back in the

bottom of the third, capitalizing on an errant throw by Bryant on

Freeman’s ball to the right side of the infield to make it 2-1.

Auburn scored three times in the fifth to go up 5-1 as Fleta two-run home run and Ryan Jenkins (0-for-2) doubled in Morris. The

home run was the 49th of Fletcher’s career, tying him with Frank Thomas

for third on the Auburn all-time home run list.

Clemson responded to Auburn’s three runs with a seven-run bottom half,

knocking Auburn starter Slade Smith from the game with three runs in in

the inning and a man on. John Hinson (3-for-5, HR, 2 RBI) greeted

Hubbard with a first pitch, two-run home run that put Clemson ahead,

6-5, and then scored two more unearned runs when Shaffer reached on an

error and scored on Kieboom’s double and then Kieboom was knocked in by

Addison Johnson (2-for-6, R, RBI) to go up 8-5.

Auburn got a run back in the sixth when Fradejas lofted his second home

run of the regional over the wall in left and then scored twice more

when Cruz issued a bases-loaded walk to Bryan and a Fradejas RBI single

back up the middle that tied the game at 8-8.

Clemson regained the lead at 9-8 off of Hubbard in the bottom of the

seventh when Freeman doubled in Wilson Boyd (1-for-3, 2 BB), who had

walked to lead off the inning.

The win was Auburn’s first of the season when going to the ninth

trailing after being 0-16 throughout the first 62 games of the season.

Walk-up ticket sales are all that remain for Monday’s 6pm finale and

will go on sale beginning at 8am CT at the Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum

Ticket Office on Monday morning.

Auburn made it to the Sunday evening game by defeating Southern Miss,

17-8, on Sunday afternoon.

[thacheetah11 18]

Pack Plainsman Park Everyone!!! 

Nice Wrap-up ST!! Thanks!

WDE 

[telling tiger 156]

Great job men, just one more!!!!!!! WDE!!!!!!!

[InfernoOrangeSS 321]

Win today guys!  War Eagle!!!!