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(03/24/14 8:16pm)
Auburn baseball has won 10 of their last 12 games, and the country is taking notice.
Baseball America ranked Auburn as the No. 21 team in the country Monday, two days after taking a road series from ranked conference opponent Tennessee.
Auburn's last Baseball America top 25 ranking before today came on April 2, 2012.
In their first conference series they won two out of three at home against No. 24 Texas A&M then responded this past weekend with two victories at then-No. 14 Tennessee.
Despite the SEC having seven total teams ranked in this week's top 25 poll, Auburn leads the conference with a .987 fielding percentage and also holds the longest conference series winning streak with five in a row, dating back to last season.
This week Auburn stays at home with a game tomorrow at 6 p.m. against Kennesaw State before they hold their third SEC series Thursday-Saturday vs. Missouri.
Thursday night's game against Missouri at 6:30 p.m. will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
Auburn is currently tied with Ole Miss and Mississippi State for first place in the SEC Western division.
(03/23/14 9:09pm)
A ninth-inning rally came up short for Auburn baseball as Tennessee held on to win 8-6 on Sunday to avoid the sweep.
Justin Camp got the loss on the mound for Auburn.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the second when Tennessee had a two-out rally. The Vols brought home their first three runs with an RBI single followed by a two-RBI triple by Scott Price.
The first two innings were all Camp would get as Michael O'Neal replaced him to start off the third.
In the third Tennessee brought home more runs with two outs when they hit a two-RBI single to make it 5-0.
Auburn's offense showed life in the top of the fourth when Blake Austin hit a three run home run to cut Tennessee's lead down to 5-3.
O'Neal pitched a 1-2-3 fifth inning and Ryan Tella responded in the top of the sixth with a solo home run.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Vols manufactured two more runs with another two-out rally to increase their lead to 7-4.
Trey Cochran-Gill relieved O'Neal to start off the eighth, but, after he allowed a double and a sacrifice fly, Daniel Koger got the call from the bullpen and got out of the inning.
With one out in the ninth inning Auburn hit three consecutive singles to load the bases for Keegan Thompson, who was walked to bring in Auburn's fifth run. Jordan Ebert then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to make it 8-6. With Damon Haecker up and runners on the corners, pinch runner J.J. Shaffer was thrown out trying to steal second to end the game.
Despite the loss, Auburn won their second consecutive SEC series over a Top 25 opponent and will come back home with a 17-8 overall record. The Tigers will play Kennesaw State at Plainsman Park this Tuesday, March 25, at 6 p.m.
(03/23/14 2:03am)
Auburn gymnastics finished fifth overall in the SEC Championship on Saturday, which is the program's best finish since 1993.
The No. 12 Tigers also won the afternoon session for the second consecutive year with a total score of 195.55. That score beat No. 15 Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri.
"I think our girls did a tremendous job today," said Auburn head coach and SEC Coach of the Year Jeff Graba. "We talked all week about fighting throughout the meet and I think the team did really well. We won our session, which ties for our highest finish in 20 years. I'm very proud of this team."
In Auburn's first rotation on vault, Caitlin Atkinson led the team with a 9.875 and MJ Rott followed with a 9.85.
For the second consecutive rotation Auburn scored a 48.975 on the uneven bars where Kelsey Kopec led the team with a 9.8.
Auburn's scored a 48.85 in their third rotation on the balance beam and Atkinson and Megan Walker both scored a 9.85.
Brittany Webster led Auburn in their final rotation on floor with a 9.8 while Auburn had a total score of 48.75.
Atkinson, Walker and Webster earned spots as All-SEC honorees after the meet.
Their next meet is April 5 when NCAA Regionals begin and the NCAA Gymnastics Selection Show is this Monday, March 24 at 3 p.m. on NCAA.com.
(03/23/14 12:40am)
Auburn took the series at Tennessee in a 4-2 win Saturday under the guidance of pitcher Keegan Thompson, who improved to 5-0 on the season.
Thompson allowed just one earned run in his first SEC start away from home to keep his winning streak going. The Auburn offense spread a few runs around in support of Thompson, whose win was saved by closer Terrance Dedrick.
The freshman needed only nine pitches to shut down Tennessee in the first inning.
In the top of the second Damon Haecker hit a two-out RBI single to score Ryan Tella for Auburn's first run of the day.
In the bottom of the second inning Thompson only needed eight pitches to end the inning and followed up in the third with another 1-2-3 inning.
With one out in the top of the fourth Blake Logan hit a double and Daniel Robert hit a bunt single to give Auburn runners on the corners. Haecker then converted on a squeeze bunt hit to bring in Logan for their second run.
Thompson kept going with another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fourth.
Tennessee's first hit came in the fifth after a walk with no outs but Thompson worked his way out of the inning to keep the Vols scoreless.
In the sixth inning, Tennessee loaded the bases for the first time with a pair of base hits and a walk. But once again Auburn managed to escape the inning without allowing a Tennessee run.
To start off the seventh, Tennessee made a pitching change but Dan Glevenyak responded with an RBI double to score Sam Gillikin from second base. Later in the inning Damek Tomscha converted on a suicide squeeze bunt to bring home Glevenyak and take a 4-0 lead.
With no outs and a Tennessee runner on second to start off the eighth inning, Thompson's day was over as he was relieved by Jay Wade.
Wade allowed an infield single, which gave Tennessee runners on the corners with one out. Then they hit an RBI groundout for their first run, which was charged to Thompson who was responsible for the runner who scored. But then Wade allowed an RBI single to make it 4-2 before the inning ended.
Despite starting the ninth with a leadoff double by Connor Short, Auburn left two runners in scoring position going into the bottom of the ninth.
Terrance Dedrick was then called in to try to get the save for Auburn and he did earn the save for the second consecutive day to keep Auburn on top 4-2.
With the win Auburn takes its second SEC series and improves 17-7 on the year. The Tigers will look to sweep the series tomorrow in Knoxville at 1 p.m.
(03/22/14 8:00pm)
After the first week of spring football, the defending SEC champions and BCS National Championship runners-up are setting higher expectations for this season.
"Overall, I thought it was a solid first week," said head coach Gus Malzahn. "I feel like our guys want to practice and they want to get better. They've got the right attitude."
Malzahn pointed out how the difference in this year's first week of practices and last year's is the way his team is approaching each practice.
"I like where we're at as a whole group," Malzahn said. "The way we're approaching each practice with the effort and focus. The way they're responding to coaches. We still need to improve. We're never going to be satisfied. That's probably been the thing I've been most pleased with. Our guys are understanding how to practice."
Malzahn said he has noticed improvements in younger players, such as Carl Lawson and Peyton Barber, but has also has seen a great difference in Nick Marshall.
"It's just the way he carries himself," Malzahn said. "You can tell he's a bit more comfortable. He had a solid first week."
Marshall said he will be more vocal next season.
"I'm expecting to be [a captain] but if not I will still lead by example," Marshall said. "I'm very comfortable, I know everything about the offense now."
Marshall is also looking forward to being a more balanced quarterback next season by throwing the ball more.
"I'm excited about that," Marshall said. "I like throwing the ball."
One of the newcomers that Marshall will be throwing it to is junior college transfer D'haquille Williams, who is already impressing coaches and teammates.
"He's a freak, he's a monster," said tight end C.J. Uzomah. "He's getting after it making unbelievable catches down the field and making plays with his feet. I'm really excited to see what he can do."
Malzahn said he has been impressed with the former No. 1 overall recruit.
"He's off to a good start as far as his ability to learn and effort and everything that Coach Craig and Coach Lashlee are asking him to do," Malzahn said. "He's made some very good 1-on-1 plays, too."
The Tigers are also using these spring practices to work on improving their tempo on offense, as if last year's offense was not fast enough for them.
"We've been in the system before, now Coach Malzahn wants us to pick it up," Uzomah said. "He said last year was nothing compared to the speed that we want to run next year. We're ready."
(03/22/14 2:22am)
Despite Tennessee having the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the ninth, Auburn baseball held onto a 3-2 lead to take game one of this weekend's series in Knoxville.
With the win Friday night, Auburn improves to 16-7 and keeps their hot streak alive with 10 wins in their last 11 games.
Dillon Ortman earned the win for Auburn going to 5-1 on the season. Terrance Dedrick got the call from the bullpen with one runner on and no outs in the bottom of the ninth and got out of the bases-loaded jam to get his second save of the year.
Auburn got on the board early in the top of the first with a two-RBI double by Blake Austin to score Ryan Tella and Damek Tomscha.
Tennessee responded in the bottom of the first with getting three runners on but Ortman worked his way out of it to keep them scoreless.
Both teams did not score a run until the top of the sixth when Keegan Thompson hit a two-out RBI single to bring home Austin to take the 3-0 lead.
Ortman threw his seventh strikeout in his 1-2-3 sixth inning.
Tennessee started the bottom of the eighth with two consecutive singles and that was it for Ortman as Trey Cochran-Gill came on to replace him. Tennessee then hit two RBIs to come within one run going into the ninth.
Despite Auburn getting a runner to third, Tennessee kept the score at 3-2 going into their last at bats.
With a runner already on Dedrick then threw two consecutive walks to load the bases with one out. Then he forced a groundout to Thompson, who threw the force out at home. Dedrick earned the final out with a pop fly to right field.
Game two of the series in Knoxville is tomorrow at 3 p.m. when Thompson looks to go 5-0 on the mound and also win the series.
(03/19/14 11:48pm)
Auburn kept things rolling with a 13-2 win with a season-high 17 hits over Coppin State on Wednesday.
Freshman Blake Logan led all Auburn hitters with six RBIs.
Auburn trailed Coppin State 1-0 after the first inning. After starting freshman pitcher Kevin Davis threw three walks to load the bases, Coppin State's Darien Percell hit a sacrifice fly RBI.
After only 37 pitches and one inning plus two batters faced, Jay Wade came in to replace Davis in the top of the second with runners on first and second. After a balk, Wade got three consecutive outs to leave their runners on second and third.
With no outs in the bottom of the second, Blake Logan hit his first home run of his career with a three-run shot over the Green Monster in left field.
After allowing two singles with one out, Wade was able to escape with a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. Wade also earned the win improving to 3-0 on the season.
Auburn added four more runs in the bottom of the third starting with a RBI double by Blake Austin to score Dan Glevenyak. Then Logan kept his bat going with a two-RBI single bringing home Damek Tomscha and Austin. Their fourth run came off a throwing error, which scored Logan to make it 7-1 after three innings.
Daniel Koger came on the mound for Auburn in the fourth inning and pitched two innings with one earned run, three strikeouts and one hit allowed.
Logan added his sixth RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly scoring Connor Short in the bottom of the fourth.
Auburn kept it going in the fifth with an RBI triple by J.J. Shaffer, an RBI by Ebert scoring Shaffer and another RBI by Austin to make it 11-2.
Auburn played every position player and also got the opportunity to test out their bullpen today.
Terrance Dedrick came on in the sixth and pitched one scoreless inning with two hits allowed.
Jacob Milliman took over for Dedrick in the seventh inning and let up no runs on one hit.
Cole Lipscomb then replaced Milliman in the eighth and threw a quick 1-2-3 inning.
Trey Cochran-Gill pitched the ninth inning and kept the final score at 13-2.
Auburn will travel to Knoxville this weekend for their second SEC\0x200Bseries against Tennessee.
(03/23/14 4:30pm)
After losing a close Capital City Classic to Alabama on an error and dropping back down to .500 on the season, the Auburn baseball team rallied by going on a seven-game winning streak and earning their first SEC series win against No. 23 Texas A&M to improve to 13-7.
Head coach Sunny Golloway said he knows his team is headed in the right direction, but also has room for improvements.
"We are not even close to where we started," Golloway said after Dillon Ortman's complete-game shutout win pitching against Texas A&M on Friday, March 14. "We were out in the pasture. We can see the barn, but the hay is still not in it.
"But we're getting there. Our guys are all running in the right direction, so that makes it fun."
After Ortman led the Tigers to the game one win against the Aggies, freshman standout Keegan Thompson followed on the mound with a complete game of his own in their 5-2 win in game two to clinch the series.
Thompson had 10 strikeouts on the day and improved his record to a team-best 4-0 with a 0.69 earned run average.
"The first series win in the SEC is really big," Thompson said. "We would have liked to come out and swept them, but we just didn't come out with the same fire we had the first two games. We have to change that."
The Tigers could not complete the SEC series sweep and were shut out 9-0 on March 16 to end their seven-game winning streak.
"I don't fault our guys as much as I give (Texas A&M) credit," Golloway said. "I try to preach to them that these games are so important. You just don't want to have that letdown. We'll take two out of three, four out of five for the week and get ready for next week. It's a long journey."
After the Capital City Classic against Alabama and before the game-three loss against Texas A&M, the Tigers not only won seven consecutive games, but also improved on their hitting.
"Offensively, I think we are swinging the bat better," Golloway said after the 6-5 rematch win against Alabama State on March 12. "We are driving the ball. Our slugging percentage has really, really gotten better, and that's been big for us.
"Before, it was taking four or five singles to score a run."
Damek Tomscha and Jordan Ebert have been on a hot streak at the plate and gotten their numbers up during this turnaround.
Tomscha now leads the team in multiple categories with a .400 batting average, 18 RBIs, five home runs and a .764 slugging percentage for the season.
After a slow start to the season, Ebert has turned it around, finding his swing with a .350 batting average on 21 hits and 10 runs scored.
"We are really starting to believe we can do it in the locker room, and I think that makes the biggest difference," Ebert said.
Ebert also compared their recent turnaround to another turnaround on campus from earlier this year.
"You saw it with our football team," Ebert said. "They go in and have a lot of close games against below average to pretty good teams. As soon as they realized they were good enough to do it, that's where it changed.
"That's what is happening with this team. We are realizing we are pretty good."
(03/20/14 2:15pm)
In her second season as head coach, Terri Williams-Flournoy has led the Auburn women's basketball team to its second consecutive Women's NIT berth and will be playing Furman at Auburn Arena on Thursday, March 20 at 6 p.m.
After dropping their last regular season game to a last-place Ole Miss team in overtime and exiting the SEC Tournament in the second round with a 86-54 loss to Texas A&M, Auburn's NCAA Tournament bubble was busted.
However, the Tigers are still looking forward to playing for a WNIT championship this season.
"With such a young team, it's always great to get into postseason play and stay active," Williams-Flournoy said. "No one wants to end their season so soon. Everyone wants to be playing at this time - whether it's in the NCAA Tournament or the WNIT. It's another opportunity to win a championship."
This year's team features six freshmen and two junior college transfers, therefore any postseason experience will help them down the road.
This will also be captain Tyrese Tanner's last shot at winning a championship after having an impressive 17.0 points per game senior season, which was good enough for third in the conference and also earned Tanner a spot on First-Team All-SEC.
Auburn's other two scorers averaging more than double-digit points are freshman Brandy Montgomery with 11.5 and sophomore Tra'Cee Tanner with 10.5.
Furman finished second in the Southern Conference with a 12-6 conference record and an 18-12 overall record on the season.
The Paladins finished only behind Chattanooga, who beat Auburn 80-52 on Nov. 24 and also posted an overall record of 29-3 to earn an 11-seed in this year's NCAA Tournament.
Furman has two players who earned All-SoCon honors, including sophomore forward Holli Wilkins who leads their team in scoring with 15.1 points per game and senior guard Brigid Morrissey, who leads the Southern Conference in assists this season with 182.
This is Furman's third time in program history making the postseason and first since 2000 when the Paladins qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
"We're very excited to participate in the WNIT against a program like Auburn," Furman head coach Jackie Carson said to FurmanPaladins.com. "Our non-conference schedule helps prepare us for exciting challenges like the one ahead, and our players are looking forward to competing against Auburn."
After winning their first three games last year at home against UAB, Western Kentucky and Tulane, Auburn lost in the Elite Eight round to eventual 2013 WNIT champion, Drexel.
"I thought our fans did a great job coming out and supporting us in the WNIT last year and we need them again," Williams-Flournoy said.
The opening round game against Furman this Thursday, March 20, will be free for the first 100 students to enter Auburn Arena and $5 for every other student after those 100.
"It's a great opportunity for our ladies to play in the postseason, and a great opportunity for our fans to continue to watch basketball," Williams-Flournoy said.
(03/19/14 2:28am)
Auburn won their eighth game out of the last nine with a season-high 16 hits in a 10-0 win over Coppin State Tuesday night to improve to 14-7 on the year.
Michael O'Neal earned his first win on the mound this season with six complete innings pitched while only allowing two hits and no runs.
"I learned a lot about Michael O'Neal today. I thought a little bit of it in the middle was on me and it probably has been up to this point," said head coach Sunny Golloway. "We've got to let him pitch in the middle of the zone and let the ball work more. I think he did a really good job. We turned the game back over to Blake (Austin) at a certain point and just let them go with it and when we did that he pitched better."
O'Neal had a quick 1-2-3 inning to start off the momentum for Auburn.
Auburn's offense followed with singles from Jordan Ebert and Damek Tomscha and then a well-executed RBI squeeze bunt hit scored Ebert for Auburn's first run in the bottom of the first.
Auburn's bats continued in the bottom of the second starting with singles from Connor Short and Sam Gillikin. With runners on the corners, Ebert completed Auburn's second successful RBI bunt. Later in the inning Ryan Tella hit an RBI single to score Dan Glevenyak and make it 3-0.
O'Neal kept it going on the mound with another 1-2-3 inning in the third.
The offense gave O'Neal another insurance run when Ebert hit a sacrifice fly RBI to score Damon Haecker, who hit a double before scoring Auburn's fourth run in the bottom of the third.
In the following inning, Haecker hit another sacrifice fly RBI for Auburn to score Tomscha and make it 5-0.
After walking two consecutive batters with only one out, O'Neal rallied by getting two consecutive groundouts to end the top of the fifth and keep his scoreless one-hitter.
Auburn continued their scoring trend of one run each inning in the bottom of the fifth when Ebert hit another RBI to score J.J. Shaffer, who reached on a base hit bunt and also stole second.
Auburn added two more runs with an RBI triple down the right field line by Daniel Robert to score Austin followed by another sacrifice fly RBI by Haecker to make it 8-0.
Trey Wingenter came on to relieve O'Neal in the seventh and kept it scoreless for the next two innings with two strikeouts and one hit allowed.
Auburn's ninth run came when a pitch hit Haecker with the bases-loaded in the bottom of the seventh. Their 10th run came in the eighth when an error brought Ebert home from third.
Rocky McCord came on to pitch in the ninth inning and kept the 10-0 shutout win alive by throwing three consecutive strikeouts to end the game despite throwing three straight walks to start the inning.
"I'm proud that we scored every inning," Golloway said. "I'm proud that there are no errors in the error column and I thought we pitched the ball really well today."
Auburn is back at Plainsman Park Wednesday at 3 p.m. for another game against Coppin State.
(03/15/14 11:29pm)
Despite snapping their seven-game winning streak in game two of Saturday's doubleheader, Auburn baseball won the first game 5-2 and had a season-high 15 hits to clinch the series win.
After this weekend's series against the Aggies, Auburn improved to 13-7 on the season.
Keegan Thompson shined on the mound once again with a complete game, 10-strikeout performance in game one today.
Auburn scored two runs in the bottom of the first with an RBI double by Damek Tomscha followed by an RBI from Daniel Robert to bring Tomscha home.
The Aggies tied the game up in the top of the fifth with two runs. With the bases-loaded Thompson walked in a run and then Texas A&M's pinch-hitter Jonathan Moroney brought in their second run with a sacrifice fly RBI. Besides that one inning that broke his 20 scoreless innings streak, Thompson did not let up another run for the remainder of the game.
Auburn responded in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out RBI single from pinch-hitter Blake Logan, which scored Ryan Tella, who got on base with a single.
In the seventh, Connor Short gave his fellow freshman class teammate some insurance runs with a two-RBI double to make it 5-2.
Thompson struck out the side in the ninth to complete the game and improve to 4-0 this season.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Texas A&M got the best of Auburn's pitching staff with a 9-0 victory.
Auburn also struggled with leaving runners on base.
Justin Camp got the loss going to 1-2 on the season.
The Aggies took the 1-0 lead in the top of the third with an RBI sacrifice fly and then they added their second run with an RBI single from Nick Banks in the following inning.
Despite pitching a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, Camp allowed runners to reach the corners with one out and was then replaced by Michael O'Neal in the top of the sixth.
Texas A&M then pulled off consecutive suicide squeeze bunts to make it 4-0.
Auburn loaded up the bases in the bottom of the sixth but remained scoreless.
Jay Wade came in from the bullpen in the seventh and allowed a two-out two-RBI single to increase the Aggies lead to 6-0.
Auburn got two more base runners on in the bottom half of the inning but still remained scoreless.
Terrance Dedrick pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, but Trey Cochran-Gill pitched the ninth and allowed three runs on five hits.
Auburn has two midweek games this Tuesday and Wednesday at home against Coppin State.
(03/15/14 3:27am)
Auburn baseball continued its winning streak Friday night with Sunny Golloway's first SEC victory against No. 23 Texas A&M 4-0.
In Dillon Ortman's second ever start against a conference opponent, he shined with a complete game shutout with Auburn not needing to go to the bullpen and only allowing four hits.
"I thought Dillon was pretty special," Golloway said. "He pretty much had command of all his pitches. He lost control of his slider on one hitter. That's the only time I can remember we lost control on one particular pitch."
Sophomore Jordan Ebert continued his hot streak at the plate with three hits.
"We are really starting to believe we can do it in the locker room, and I think that makes the biggest difference," Ebert said. "You saw it with our football team. They go in and have a lot of close games against below average to pretty good teams. As soon as they realized they were good enough to do it, that's where it all changed."
Auburn got on the board early with two runs in the first inning due to RBIs by Blake Austin and Daniel Robert.
In the following inning, Auburn added their third run after they loaded up the bases and Keegan Thompson hit a fielder's choice RBI to score Damon Haecker.
Auburn's final run came in the eighth inning when Texas A&M's pitcher threw a wild pitch to score Thompson.
Auburn is looking to continue it's six-game winning streak with a double header tomorrow at Plainsman Park against Texas A&M.
(03/14/14 7:00pm)
After Jay Jacobs quickly pulled the plug on Tony Barbee's disappointing tenure as men's basketball head coach Wednesday night, the Auburn athletic director now has another coaching search to conduct, his fourth since December 2012.Jacobs said he wants a coach to compete for SEC championships in light of the department's major investment in the program with Auburn Arena, and he wants to move with this search as quickly as possible.With Jacobs' hires of Gus Malzahn, Sunny Golloway and Clint Myers this past year, one would think Auburn is going to go for a splash hire in men's basketball.We as the sports staff of The Auburn Plainsman have compiled a list of 10 coaching candidates for Auburn men's basketball. Some are big names, others are lesser-known up-and-comers in the coaching ranks, but we feel each of these candidates are improvements on paper from the program's last few hires.Bruce Pearl (231-99 in 10 seasons at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Tennessee)Bruce Pearl seemingly is the name at the top of everyone's short list, and for good reason. Pearl has a history of reviving SEC programs mired in mediocrity.After guiding Southern Indiana to a Division II National Championship in the '90s, Pearl made a name for himself at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he led the Panthers to 86 wins in four seasons, including a run to the Sweet 16 in 2005. All in all, the Volunteers reached the NCAA tournament in six consecutive seasons under Bruce Pearl, a stretch that included three Sweet 16 visits and the program's first Elite Eight in 2010.Pearl's teams played at a frenetic pace and employed full court pressure, creating energy and passion both on and off the court for the Tennessee basketball program. Pearl doesn't come without baggage, though. Pearl was fired from Tennessee in 2011 after it was discovered he lied about recruiting violations and covered up a substance abuse violation by a player. In addition to sanctions, the NCAA gave Pearl a three-year show-cause penalty, meaning that sanctions would follow Pearl even if he was hired at another school.Pearl's show-cause violation is up in August, meaning he'll be one of the hottest names on the job market. There's certainly baggage here, but if Auburn is looking to make a splash and hire a proven SEC winner, there are few better options than this one.-Eric Wallace / Sports ReporterBen Howland (390-199 in 19 seasons at Northern Arizona, Pittsburgh and UCLA)Auburn fans are howling for Jay Jacobs to hire a winner, and few options have won quite as often as Ben Howland.The former Weber State guard had his first success at Pittsburgh, where he took the Panthers to back-to-back Big East Regular Season Championships and Sweet Sixteens in 2002 and 2003. Howland was then hired at basketball powerhouse UCLA, where winning is counted in NCAA Tournament Championships and not just appearances.Howland's Bruins won three consecutive Pac-10 titles from 2006-2008 and reached three consecutive Final Fours in that same span. In his time at UCLA, Howland was never short for talent. Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Jrue Holiday, Darren Collison and Arron Afflalo are just a few of Howland's former players still making a name for themselves in the NBA today.Howland was fired from UCLA in 2013 following a "disappointing" 25-9 season, for a little context on UCLA's impossible standards, so he's certainly one of the most proven names on the market. There are good hires and then there are home run hires, and for Auburn, Howland would certainly be the latter.-Eric Wallace / Sports ReporterTommy Amaker (314-208 in 17 seasons at Seton Hall, Michigan and Harvard)Of all the long shots on this list, Tommy Amaker might be the longest shot. But I would make Amaker tell me he does not want the Auburn job, considering the current success he had at Harvard and the past experience coaching in major conference basketball.Amaker was a fixture at Duke during the Blue Devils' NCAA Tournament success of the late 80s and early 90s as a player and later as an assistant coach. After four consecutive postseason appearances as the young head coach of the Seton Hall Pirates, Amaker left for Michigan, where he consistently posted solid seasons but never was able to break into the Big Dance. Despite his NIT success, he was fired at Michigan and later picked up by Harvard.Amaker took the Ivy League school to its first Big Dance in 2011 after snapping the program's long streak of losing seasons the year before. Harvard has dominated the Ivy League the last four seasons, and Amaker could make the Crimson the next Wichita State or VCU with the recruiting classes he has hauled in recent years.Amaker would be far from the usual mid-major hire. He has experience at the highest level as a player, assistant coach and head coach, and he has taken a program from virtually nothing into one of the most feared teams outside the power conferences. Amaker is a long shot, but I think he deserves at least a call to see if he wants to rebuild a program in a bigger conference.-Justin Ferguson / Sports EditorTubby Smith (525-244 in 23 seasons at Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota and Texas Tech)Tubby Smith, the current head coach of Texas Tech, has led a long and successful career as a head power-conference coach.Smith has won regular season conference titles nine times, while winning his conference tournament five times.While at Kentucky, Smith led a dominant teams, winning the SEC Tournament in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2004. Smith was also named the SEC Coach of the Year in 1998, 2003 and 2005.Although he has been in Lubbock for one year as the Texas Tech head coach, Auburn could realistically make a run at the former SEC coaching giant. With his success at Georgia and Kentucky, Smith definitely knows what it takes to win in this conference.-Taylor Jones / Sports Writer
Rick Stansbury (293-165 in 14 seasons at Mississippi State)Another potential target for Auburn could be former Mississippi State head coach Rick Stansbury.Stansbury was hired at Mississippi State in 1998 after serving as an assistant coach for the Bulldogs since 1990.He led the Bulldogs to two SEC Tournament Championships in 2002 and 2009, while winning the SEC Regular Season Championship in 2004 and winning the SEC West Division Championship five times.Stansbury was named the 2004 SEC Coach of the Year and also led the Bulldogs to their highest win total in Mississippi State history during the 2001-2002 season with 27 wins.With an impressive 11 postseason appearances in his 14 seasons in charge of Mississippi State, Stansbury reportedly has expressed interest in returning to the SEC with the Auburn job. An established name in the conference, Stansbury could be the name to lead Auburn back up the ladder.-Taylor Jones / Sports WriterJeff Capel (175-110 in nine seasons at Virginia Commonwealth and Oklahoma)Jeff Capel, a former standout player at Duke University and current assistant coach there, could be another strong candidate for the Auburn men's basketball head coaching job. He became a head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University at 27 years old and was the coach there for four years. Capel led them to a record 79 wins with a .658 winning percentage.Capel has also been an assistant on the USA Men's team when they won the gold medal in the 2005 FIBA Tournament in Turkey.Capel was named the head coach of University of Oklahoma in 2006 and lasted there until 2011. During his tenure there, he recruited multiple McDonald's All Americans, including current NBA All-Star Blake Griffin. While at Oklahoma, he made two NCAA Tournaments and even advanced to the Elite Eight once. He also averaged 21 wins per season there.-Kyle Van Fechtmann / Sports Reporter
Seth Greenberg (367-276 in 22 seasons at Long Beach State, South Florida and Virginia Tech)
Although Seth Greenberg's coaching tenure ended in April 2012 at Virginia Tech, I think he deserves a solid look as the next Auburn basketball head coach. Greenberg led the Hokies to a No. 5 seed in the 2007 NCAA Tournament and also led them to multiple victories over No. 1 teams in the regular season. Greenberg left Blacksburg with the second-most wins in program history compiling a 170-123 overall record.Despite the fact that Greenberg only made the NCAA Tournament once at Virginia Tech out of nine seasons, several of his assistants left for head coaching jobs elsewhere and he had to fill coaching jobs during each offseason.Even though Greenberg is an analyst for ESPN now, and it may take a lot of money for Auburn to hire him, I believe it's finally time for Auburn to shell out some money and hire a coach who had a good record at an impressive basketball conference like the ACC.-Kyle Van Fechtmann / Sports Reporter Michael White (70-29 in three seasons at Louisiana Tech) \0x200BMichael White is simply the hottest up-and-comer in college basketball at the moment. A former player and assistant coach at Ole Miss who excelled at recruiting the Southeast, the 37-year-old White has spent the last three seasons at Louisiana Tech, where he has posted back-to-back regular season conference championships. White has ties to the SEC and the state of Alabama, where he was a top assistant at Jacksonville State, and his up-tempo, full court-pressing style of basketball would play to Auburn's guard-heavy roster for next season. I know Auburn fans would be wary of hiring another hot mid-major candidate after the failed Tony Barbee experiment, but unlike the former Tigers head coach, the energetic White has had more than just one good year at a smaller school and would come with great coaching and recruiting experience in the SEC. \0x200B-Justin Ferguson / Sports EditorDonnie Tyndall (167-99 in eight seasons at Morehead State and Southern Miss)Donnie Tyndall might not be the most well known name for Auburn fans, but the Southern Mississippi head coach would bring a proven track record of winning to the Plains, should he get the job.The 43-year-old Tyndall inherited a 4-23 Morehead State team as his first head coaching job in 2006 and rapidly turned the Eagles into an Ohio Valley Conference power. The Eagles made the NCAA Tournament twice under Tyndall, including a Third Round appearance in 2011.Now at Southern Miss, Tyndall's Golden Eagles are 53-15 in his two seasons in Hattiesburg and are currently poised to make the NCAA Tournament at 26-5.Tiger fans are certainly tired of mid-major hires, and deservedly so after the failures of Jeff Lebo and Tony Barbee, but Tyndall would bring a more sustained track record of success to the Plains than either of those two. Considering the current state of the program, Jay Jacobs could do a whole lot worse. -Eric Wallace / Sports ReporterTod Kowalczyk (200-175 in 12 seasons at Wisconsin-Green Bay and Toledo)This mid-major, less-intriguing name is completely out of left field for most Auburn basketball fans, and for good reason. Kowalczyk has spent his entire coaching in the Midwest (including an assistant coaching stint at Marquette when NBA star Dwayne Wade was on campus), but his track record with rebuilding programs is stunning.Kowalczyk took over a dreadful Wisconsin-Green Bay team in 2002 and rattled off five winning seasons in eight tries. He never broke into the NCAA Tournament in a one-qualifier conference like the Horizon League, but he is on the verge of a remarkable transformation at Toledo.Following a dismal rebuilding season, Kowalczyk took a senior-less Toledo team from 4-28 to 19-17 and a couple of wins away from the Big Dance. His up-tempo 2013-14 Rockets are on the verge of making it to the NCAA Tournament this season with an impressive 26-5 record in a competitive MAC league.But another thing that sticks out about Kowalczyk is that he has turned around the Toledo program while being sponsored by Under Armour. After Allen Payne's tweet Wednesday night about Auburn continuing to struggle with the Maryland-based apparel company sent Auburn fans and writers in a frenzy (I for one think the UA ordeal is a minor issue that people are blowing out of proportion, but that's all for another post), Kowalczyk is proof that you can succeed in this game while being an Under Armour school.-Justin Ferguson / Sports EditorWhat do you think of our list? Have any more candidates you think we should add? Who is your pick for Auburn's next men's basketball head coach? Tweet your responses @TheAUPlainsman or email the staff at sports@theplainsman.com.
(03/13/14 2:36am)
Auburn baseball kept its winning streak alive with another midweek 6-5 win Wednesday night against Alabama State.
Damek Tomscha and Ryan Tella each hit home runs for the Tigers in a back-and-forth victory that was earned by Daniel Robert's pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Jacob Milliman started on the mound for Auburn pitching two consecutive 1-2-3 innings to start off the game.
The game was scoreless until the top of the fourth when Alabama State took the 1-0 lead on an RBI double by Richard Gonzalez. Then they added their second run on an RBI single into left field.
Auburn took the lead in the bottom half of the inning when Tomscha hit a solo home run and then Dan Glevenyak hit an RBI double to score Jordan Ebert from first base. Blake Logan singled home Glevenyak for the third run. Then Damon Haecker hit an RBI single to make it 4-2 Auburn.
Alabama State led off the top of the fifth with a solo homer. Auburn's fourth error in the field caused Alabama State to tie it up 4-4. Then ASU took the 5-4 lead due to an infield bunt single to score the runner from third.
Jay Wade relieved Milliman to start the sixth inning and retired all three batters in a row in his first inning. Then Wade only needed five pitches to end the seventh inning.
Tella tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with his first home run of the season. Later in the inning with two outs, Robert hit a pinch-hit RBI single to take the 6-5 lead.
Wade pitched his third consecutive 1-2-3 inning to keep Auburn's lead going into the ninth.
Trey Cochran-Gill earned the save, while Wade earned the win.
Auburn opens up SEC play this weekend in a home series against Texas A&M.
(03/12/14 1:18am)
Despite having five errors in the field, four of Auburn's pitchers threw a combined one-hitter in a 6-1 win over Kennesaw State.
Justin Camp started on the mound for Auburn and pitched 6.2 innings with only one unearned run and allowing one hit.
Terrance Dedrick pitched the next 1.1 innings ,and then Jay Wade got the first two outs of the ninth inning followed by Rocky McCord getting the final out.
Auburn got on the scoreboard early in the top of the first. Jordan Ebert and Ryan Tella hit back-to-back singles to start off the inning and Anfernee Grier drove home Ebert with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
Damek Tomscha hit another home run, his fourth of the season, to take the 2-0 lead in the top of the third. That was the lone run in the third though after Auburn left the bases loaded.
But in the top of the fourth, Auburn added another run with a sacrifice fly from Tomscha to score Damon Haecker.
With the bases loaded for the third time of the game in the top of the fifth, Ebert delivered with a two-RBI single and Auburn's sixth run was brought in by a Kennesaw State error.
Those six runs were all Auburn would need for the win and now they improved to 10-6 on the season.
Their next game is tomorrow back at home at 6 p.m. in a rematch against Alabama State.
(03/09/14 9:39pm)
After Auburn blew a three-run lead in the top of the ninth inning to Mercer, all eyes at Plainsman Park were on senior Ryan Tella stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs.
Tella battled after going down 0-2, and his persistence paid off.
Auburn won 6-5 Sunday on a two-out RBI single from Tella in the bottom of the ninth inning.
"I was just looking to put something in play," Tella said. "That's all I needed to do. I didn't need to hit a bomb, didn't need to get a gap shot or anything. I just needed to put it in play and see what they could do with it, and I was able to find a hole." Michael O'Neal got the win on the mound as the Tigers swept the series to go 9-6 on the season.
Just like in Saturday's victory, Damek Tomscha hit another home run over the Green Monster in left field to make it 1-0 in the bottom of the first.
In the top of the fifth, Mercer took the lead with a couple of errors and unearned runs to take a 2-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the sixth, Auburn took control of the game again with three more runs to take the 4-2 lead.
Auburn tied the game up after a suicide squeeze bunt by Damon Haecker to score Jordan Ebert from third. Blake Austin then hit an RBI single to score Anfernee Grier.
With the bases loaded, pinch hitter Jackson Burgreen was hit by a pitch and brought in the fourth run for Auburn.
In the bottom of the eighth, Tella led off the inning with a triple, and Burgreen brought him home with a bunt to make it 5-2 Auburn.
Terrance Dedrick relieved O'Neal in the ninth in hopes of getting a save to end the game.
However, Mercer started the ninth with two doubles and a single to make it 5-4. With one out in the ninth Mercer tied things up with a squeeze play.
"The three runs at the back end, that's the part that's very worrisome," said Auburn head coach Sunny Golloway. "I give Terrance a lot of credit for getting out of it with it tied, but we left some fastballs up that they could tattoo. So it's very alarming for me."
With the score tied, Auburn responded in the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off RBI single by Tella to take the 6-5 win and the sweep of the series.
(03/09/14 12:34am)
In game two of the series against Mercer, Auburn baseball won 4-1 with Keegan Thompson improving to 3-0 on the mound.
Thompson threw seven shutout innings on 77 pitches and only allowed two hits on the day.
Auburn's first two runs came in the bottom of the fourth.
Ryan Tella reached first base on an error and then Dan Glevenyak singled to advance Tella to second. The second error of the inning for Mercer, a throwing error on Jordan Ebert's grounder, brought Tella home for Auburn's first run. Daniel Robert then hit an RBI on a groundout, which scored Glevenyak to make it 2-0.
Auburn's third and fourth runs came two innings later in the bottom of the sixth.
With two outs Auburn had the bases-loaded because of a throwing error and two walks. Then Anfernee Grier drove in Glevenyak and Blake Logan with a single to right field to take the 4-0 lead.
Trey Cochran-Gill replaced Thompson in the eighth inning and delivered with a 1-2-3 inning.
Terrance Dedrick came on to close the game out in the ninth but allowed three singles to the first three batters that he faced.
A groundout for the first out of the inning brought Mercer's first run home on a call at the plate that head coach Sunny Golloway argued and was thrown out of the game for. A passed ball then occurred in the next at-bat but Blake Austin was able to get the ball fast enough and throw it to Dedrick to tag the second out at home plate. Dedrick got the last out of the inning on a groundout back to him to end the game.
Auburn looks to go for the sweep tomorrow in game three of the series at 1 p.m. at Plainsman Park.
(03/08/14 4:27am)
After three consecutive losses, the No. 11 Auburn gymnastics team tied the third-best score in school history in its 197.00-194.60 win Friday night over Missouri.
This was Auburn's fourth time in program history posted a score of 197.
"We better take a little bit of confidence from this," said Auburn head coach Jeff Graba. "This is what we see in practice everyday and it's nice to see it in a meet situation. It couldn't come at a better time."
After the first rotation, Auburn started their lead with a 49.275 on vault while Missouri scored a 48.625 on bars.
Caitlin Atkinson led Auburn in vault with a 9.9.
Auburn also posted their second highest bars score of the season, a 49.125, in their second rotation of the night. Kelsey Kopec had a career high score of 9.875 in bars tonight and Atkinson matched her with a 9.875 in bars.
Auburn even scored their season high beam score in tonight's meet, which is a 49.3. A couple of Tigers had career bests in beam, including Lexus Demers with a 9.9 and Kullen Hlawek with a 9.825.
Now that Auburn's home schedule is finished after tonight's win, their only regular season meet remaining is next weekend's rematch with Alabama at Tuscaloosa.
(03/08/14 3:20am)
After only a few hits in the Capital City Classic Wednesday March 5, Auburn got the bats going early Friday night in a 9-5 win over Mercer.
"Our guys did a really good job of getting in the box with an attitude and driving the ball tonight," said Auburn head coach Sunny Golloway.
Damek Tomscha hit his second home run of the year in the first inning with a shot clearing the Green Monster in left to take the 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second, Blake Logan started a rally with a line drive hit to left field followed by another single by Keegan Thompson. Jordan Ebert crushed a triple to score both runners on base. Anfernee Grier pulled off a suicide squeeze bunt to score Ebert from third and make it 4-0.
Starting pitcher Dillon Ortman improved his record to 3-1 on the mound while pitching 7.2 innings with six strikeouts.
"We had a system involved in throwing everything away and making them hit my pitch," Ortman said. "The whole team came out swinging tonight. To help a pitcher out like that is huge."
Through Ortman's first four innings he only allowed one hit on three strikeouts and no runs. Then, in the top of the fifth, Mercer hit a single, double and got on base with a walk to load up the bases.
But with two outs Ortman successfully got out of the inning with a groundout to third base, leaving all three Mercer runners stranded.
In the sixth and seventh inning, Ortman pitched consecutive 1-2-3 innings.
Auburn manufactured their fifth run in the bottom of the fifth when Damon Haecker hit a sacrifice fly RBI to score Ebert, who reached on a base hit and also stole third base.
In the bottom of the sixth, Blake Austin hit a leadoff double with the first pitch that he saw. Ryan Tella converted on a sacrifice bunt to advance Austin to third and Logan drove him home with an RBI single to increase Auburn's lead to 6-0.
Ebert led off the seventh with an infield single, and Grier advanced him to third with a double. Tomscha then hit an RBI single to score Ebert. After a pitch hit Austin to make it bases-loaded, Tella hit a fielder's choice RBI. Dan Glevenyak hit an RBI single to score Tomscha and make it 9-0.
Ortman's two earned runs came in the top of eighth. Mercer hit a single and double and then hit back-to-back RBIs to make it 9-2.
"He pitched outstanding," Golloway said. "I told Dillon when I went to the mound to not worry about those two runs. That's probably more on us with the pitch calling and just trying to force the contact to minimize the pitch count."
Trey Wingenter replaced Ortman but only faced one batter while allowing one hit. LHP Daniel Koger then took the mound and threw a bases-loaded walk to bring in Mercer's third run. But Koger bounced back with a strikeout to end the eighth inning.
In the ninth, Koger allowed a 2-run homer to Mercer's Chesney Young but got the final three outs for Auburn to win 9-5.
With tonight's win Auburn improves to 7-6 and Mercer goes to 12-3 on the season. Game two of the series is tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Plainsman Park.
(03/06/14 4:44am)
After winning the first five MAX Capital City Classics, Auburn baseball lost to Alabama 4-3 Wednesday night to snap their winning streak at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery.
With two outs in the top of ninth and runners on the corners, Alabama scored what turned out to be the game-winning run following a throwing error by third baseman Connor Short.
With the loss, Auburn drops back down to .500 with a 6-6 overall record.
From the beginning of the game, both teams left runners stranded on base. In the first inning, Auburn went scoreless after leaving the bases loaded and Alabama left two runners on.
It remained scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when Dan Glevenyak hit a two-run home run over the left field fence to give Auburn the 2-0 lead.
Alabama's bats responded in the top of the fourth when Casey Hughston and Will Haynee hit back-to-back RBI singles to tie it at 2-2.
Auburn took the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Blake Austin hit an RBI single to score Glevenyak from third.
Alabama responded once again by tying it at 3 when Mikey White hit an RBI single in the top of the seventh.
Auburn starting pitcher Justin Camp was then replaced by relief pitcher Trey Cochran-Gill after allowing that third run. Cochran-Gill escaped that inning with two consecutive outs to keep the score at 3-3.
Camp also gave up nine hits but had four strikeouts and four 1-2-3 innings on the night.
In the bottom of the eighth, Auburn continued to struggle with runners on base when they left one on second base to end the inning. Auburn was 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
After the costly error in the top of the ninth, Auburn could only manufacture a walk in its last at-bats to end the game at 4-3.
Auburn is back at home this weekend for a series against Mercer, who is 12-2 so far this season.