For nearly four hours, Auburn and Xavier were neck-and-neck.
But in the 11th inning, reserve infielder Melvin Gray dribbled a single up the middle, and the throw went wide, scoring Jordan Ebert from second base to give Auburn a walkoff win.
“I just had a gut feeling about Melvin,” head coach Sunny Golloway said. “With his speed, I knew they weren’t going to get him once I saw that ball bounce. I felt good when they threw it, because they weren’t going to get him anyway, and it allowed us to go ahead and score.”
Gray’s hit, the first of his career, came at a time when his pitcher needed him most.
Justin Camp, the everyday closer, pitched 3.1 scoreless innings to pick up the win; as a bullpen pitcher, he isn’t normally called upon to pitch more than a few innings.
“Coming out of the pen as a closer, you’re expected to go one inning, maybe two,” Camp said. “So going four, that’s a little more than I was expecting.”
After watching him go for more innings than was expected, coach Golloway sang the praises of his closer.
“I can’t say enough about what Camp did out of the bullpen,” Golloway said. “What Camp did was nothing short of terrific, and he was done (in the 11th); we needed to get it done right there.”
Starter Rocky McCord went 6.1 solid innings and allowed only two runs, while striking out five and walking four.
Auburn (12-3) got on the board first, plating two runs in the fourth inning: one on a Hunter Tackett single and another from a fielder’s choice from Ben Craft.
Xavier pulled within one in the fifth inning, and after two pitching changes in the seventh, tied the game on a hit off of Izaac Yarbrough.
The Tigers' best chance to win came in the bottom of the ninth. Tackett was hit by a pitch, and Gray came in to pinch-run. A hit-and-run by Cody Nulph allowed the speedy Gray to reach third, giving Auburn runners on the corners with one out. JJ Shaffer, who was pinch-hitting for Sam Gillikin, grounded into an inning-ending double play, sending the game to extras.
“(This game) has to say something about our young men and their character and their mental toughness,” Golloway said. “That’s two extra-inning games that we’ve played early, and we’ve been challenged. They’re preparing us, and that speaks volumes to the character of our club.”
Auburn will close the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. Trey Wingenter, who is 0-0 on the year with a 2.73 ERA, is scheduled to start.
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