Auburn's baseball team (28-28, 10-20 SEC) will be left out of the SEC Tournament this year after finishing the season with its worst conference record since 2007.
Sunny Golloway said his first season as the head baseball coach at Auburn did not end up like he envisioned earlier in the season when he stated the team's goal was to reach Omaha and the College World Series.
"We just didn't finish games late," said senior Damek Tomscha. "There were multiple SEC games where we were up in the late innings and we just found a way to lose."
Despite an even record in his first season at Auburn, Golloway's record at his previous coaching jobs, Oklahoma and Oral Roberts, was 681-337-1.
As head coach of Oklahoma's program, Golloway led the team to seven NCAA Regional berths, four NCAA Super Regionals and the 2010 College World Series.
Golloway's impressive resume did not help the Tigers win enough ballgames this season, but he said it is only the beginning.
"The foundation that we've built did not show up in the wins and losses," Golloway said. "So I understand that it's hard on the surface to see any kind of progress. But I know what we've done, and I know what we're building and how we're building it."
Auburn was left on the outside looking in at the SEC Tournament when the Tigers had their final series of the season against LSU (40-14-1, 17-11-1 SEC).
Their elimination was sealed when Auburn was knocked from contention from the SEC Tournament with the May 17th loss to LSU.
Even if Auburn had won, a place would not have been secured for the Tigers in Hoover because both Tennessee and Georgia earned victories on the final day of the season.
With the season finished, Golloway and his coaching staff will now have the chance to bring some of their own recruits on campus to build upon the foundation the program laid in 2014.
"Attention now has to turn to finishing recruiting and completing our roster for next year," Golloway said. "I was hired and brought here to help lead the Auburn Tigers to Omaha. That started with day one and that won't change as long as I'm here."
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