The Tigers opened up SEC play with a loss to No. 4 Ole Miss on Friday, dropping 1-0 in Oxford.
Both starters, Gunnar Hoglund for the Rebels and Cody Greenhill for Auburn, kept the game scoreless going into the eighth inning. Hoglund finished after throwing 110 pitches in eight innings and totaled 13 strikeouts on the night.
Greenhill only struck out four, but managed to only allow one walk and one extra-base hit in seven innings. Since his addition to the starting rotation, he has totaled an ERA of 1.88, and head coach Butch Thompson has taken notice of Cody’s abilities.
“It’s probably the best breaking ball and definitely the changeup to left-handers that we’ve seen in his career,” Thompson said of Greenhill. “His pitch-ability, I think he’s doing an amazing job. He’s a different style pitcher on his journey to get back to 100 percent, but he’s giving us a chance, especially on a Friday night.”
Auburn showed off their defensive skills in this game, completing the game without an error and totaling 24 putouts. In the fifth inning, sophomore Bryson Ware made an incredible leaping catch at the right field to rob a would-be Rebel home run.
The game’s only score came in the top of the eighth, when the Rebel’s pinch-hitter Calvin Harris hit a solo home run off of Joseph Gonzalez. Gonzalez was saddled with his first loss of the season.
Auburn threatened in the eighth when Rankin Woley hit a leadoff double into the opposite corner in right field. But after walking Tyler Miller, Hoglund was able to strike out the side to finish his outing and keep the Tigers off the board.
“This is what I remember from a SEC Friday night,” Butch said. “It’s a heartbreak because you want to get your share, but if our team will play this way for this SEC run and be consistent, there’s so many things we did well today.”
The Tigers will play their second game in Oxford on Saturday, with first pitch being set for 1:30 p.m. CST.
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Dylan Fox, Junior in Civil Site Design Engineering, joined The Plainsman as a sports writer in Spring 2020. From Geneva, IL.
