Articles written by Ross Johnson

The Auburn baseball team lost last weekend’s three-game series with No. 11 Vanderbilt, winning game one, but losing the last two.

The Tigers, which now sit at fourth place in the SEC West at 7-11, were leading 5-3 in the seventh inning Friday before the game was suspended due to rain. The game resumed at noon Saturday as the Tigers won 6-3.

The Tigers were drowned in the second game as the Commodores scored four runs in the eighth inning in the 8-2 defeat.

Tigers rally to climb four spots in final round as Alabama wins SEC Tournament

The Auburn men’s golf team competed in the 2008 Southeastern Conference tournament last weekend and tied with Mississippi State for eighth place on the 72-par Frederica Golf Club.

The eighth place finish was after advancing four-spots in the final round Sunday, surpassing Arkansas, Kentucky and Vanderbilt, making head coach Mike Griffin proud of his team.

Having been at Auburn four years, I’ve read my share of sappy, resilient, nostalgic and all-around emo “farewell” columns written by graduating Plainsman staffers.

I’ve always laughed at them, and even as I am about to graduate, I feel no different.

There’s no reason to get emo about graduating.

Sure, college was an absolute blast, and it has taught me so many things about life, whether in the classroom or not.  

But life is just starting.

Well, here we are: two weeks into the Major League Baseball season and I’m already ranting about the Braves.

This ranting won’t be necessarily negative, however.

I’ll start with the plainly obvious strength of our team: starting pitching.

John Smoltz has been, well, John Smoltz. The seasoned veteran has played lights out, boasting a 2-0 record and a staggering 0.82 ERA.

Senior Julie Dwyer: of Bloomington, Ind., performs on the vault. Dwyer is one of four seniors on the team. Pete Riley / PHOTO EDITOR

The Auburn gymnastics team placed fourth in the Northeast Regionals as a No. 2 seed at Penn State University last weekend.

Senior Julie Dwyer will compete in her fourth straight NCAA Championship after she finished second in the all-around scoring with a score of 49.450. Auburn’s team score of 195.150 was behind first place Georgia, University of Denver and Penn State. The Tigers finished in front of Brigham Young and Iowa State.

Dwyer, a two-time All-American, placed second on vault, scoring a 9.925. Her performance was outlasted only by Georgia’s Tiffany Tonlay, who scored a 9.95 on the Bulldogs’ last vault.  The event was the third time this season Auburn has faced the conference rival and top-ranked Bulldogs.

Auburn head coach Jeff Thompson, who has taken the Tigers to six consecutive regional final competitions, was proud of Dwyer’s performance, although she fell just short of placing first.

“Julie makes history tonight as the first Auburn gymnast to qualify for the NCAA Championships four years in a row,” Thompson said.

Tonlay won the meet all-around, and it is her second straight regoinal vault title.

AU Paintball Team: Co-Captain Danny Osborn, Scott Clay, founder and co-captain David Mullins, Peyton Gunn and Matt Breitenstein pose during last weekend’s tournament.

The sport of paintball has officially made its way to the Loveliest Village.

Formed last September, the Auburn University Paintball Team has competed in several tournaments, the most recent being last weekend in Monroe, Ga., hosted by the Georgia Field Owner’s Association.

The tournament was the first time the team had been fully in tact, as it has been through numerous roster changes since its inception.

“We played well for our first tournament together,” said Peyton Gunn, a sophomore and new member of the team. “With a little bit of practice we should start taking the top spots at events. We had a great time out there, and it was a good learning experience for everyone on the team.”  

Danny Osborn, founder and co-captain of the Auburn Paintball Team, thinks the team has potential.

Spring break was fun, but now reality is setting in and decisions are going to be made. Those of us who are graduating — including me — have just a few weeks to get all our ducks in a row and make the biggest choices of the spring so far.

We have to choose who to root for in the NCAA Tournament.

If you’re like me, your brackets were severely torn apart by the first two rounds this past weekend.

I’m sure you nearly spit out your beer on the beach when you heard Duke was upset by West Virginia (which I called, by the way).

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Auburn’s basketball team men finished its regular season with a 77-64 loss at the hands of Arkansas Saturday night, completing a 14-15 overall record, including a 4-12 mark in the SEC.

Auburn’s 30 percent three-point shooting did the Tigers in as they finished last in the SEC West.

“We had some foul problems early,” said head coach Jeff Lebo. “We didn’t shoot particularly well.”

No. 52 Antonio Coleman: battles to get to No. 18 sophomore quarterback Kodi Burns. Coleman was injured late in the scrimmage after getting mixed up with offensive lineman Lee Ziemba. Paramedics were called to stabilize Coleman and take him to East Alabama Medical Center in Opeli

The Auburn football team held its first spring scrimmage Saturday in Jordan-Hare Stadium, but the anticipated 150-play scrimmage was cut short to the tune of injury.

Junior defensive end Antonio Coleman, matched up against tackle Lee Ziemba, landed awkwardly and was carried off the field on a stretcher.

Coleman was diagnosed with a cervical sprain and is looking for a speedy recovery.

“We ended on a tough note,” said head coach Tommy Tuberville. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Other injuries mounted for the Tigers. Wide receiver Tim Hawthorne broke his arm at Friday’s practice, and running back Mario Fannin left the scrimmage with a sore shoulder.

Despite the injuries, Auburn welcomed its two new coordinators with an up-tempo practice and a look at Tony Franklin’s spread offense.

“We looked a little rough,” Tuberville said. “It’s the first time we’ve scrimmaged with this offense. It’s pretty tough on both teams. You gotta be in pretty good shape. The effort was good.”

Franklin’s offense focused on the passing game, allowing coaches to evaluate the quarterback situation.

“Neil (Caudle) threw the ball good at times,” Tuberville said. “But his mechanics are not good. Kodi’s mechanics are much better. We have a lot of work to do with all of them.”

Franklin was pleased overall with the quarterbacks, but saw several things they need to work on.

“They all did some good stuff, and they all did some bad stuff,” Franklin said. “Kodi made a couple of really good throws, he ran the team well, he managed the offense better.”

Burns, who completed 22 of 37 passes for 162 yards with a touchdown to running back Brad Lester, was pleased with his performance, but sees room for improvement.

“I threw the ball pretty good here and there,” Burns said. “We had a few dropped passes, but that’s a timing thing. A lot of the guys are still used to Brandon (Cox). It’s just different.”

No. 18 Kodi Burns: competes for the starting quarterback position at the first spring scrimmage last Saturday. Pete Riley / PHOTO EDITOR

It’s the warmest day of the year so far in Auburn, and hundreds of fans pour into Jordan-Hare Stadium to catch the football team’s first spring scrimmage.

The fans’ interest is understandable. Not only does Auburn have two new coordinators, but the stage is set for the stiffest quarterback race to hit the Plains in years.

Four quarterbacks, out from under the shadow of graduated three year starter Brandon Cox, are ready to prove themselves.

“They all stand exactly the same,” said offensive coordinator Tony Franklin. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s four guys competing, and we’ll give each one of them a good look.”

Franklin, who joined Auburn’s staff in late December, has an open mind. He’s giving them all a fair shot to lead his pass-happy offense, but the candidates all bring something different to the table.

Sophomore Kodi Burns, the fan favorite.

Sophomore Neil Caudle, the dark horse.

Junior Chris Todd, the transfer.

Freshman DeRon Furr, the diamond in the rough.