As with every team whose season comes to a crushing end like Auburn baseball’s did on Saturday in the NCAA Super Regional, there will be a lot of “what-ifs” thrown around in the minds of the players, coaches and fans over the next few days and weeks.
What if the Tigers were able to get more hits with runners in scoring position?
What if Auburn didn’t face a scorching-hot Ole Miss team that continually came up clutch and ran through the Nebraska Regional unscathed?
What if, WHAT IF, Ethan Bingaman’s hard-hit fly ball wasn’t magically caught by Ole Miss center fielder Brett Moseley and Auburn was able to take a two-run lead in the top of the eighth?
What if, what if, what if?
When Auburn came up short in the big moments, Ole Miss delivered, and all the credit, as Butch Thompson said, goes to the Rebels for living up to the moment.
A couple days in row, they did a little more offensively and we couldn’t catch a rhythm with that and then outpitched us a little bit, too,” the Auburn head coach said. “Some of that credit for slowing our offense has to go their way.”
Auburn never could take advantage of the massive moments presented
Over and over, it seemed as if the Tigers were ready to surge ahead and make it a dramatic series, but after two killer dingers by the Rebels in the bottom of the eighth, there was no tension to be had in front of another record crowd in Plainsman Park. After going up 2-0 in the top of the fourth and having a chance to break the game open, Auburn’s offense fell flat as it had the night before in the Game 1 loss.
It was a bitter end for a season and a team that had so much promise, with eyes on the program’s first national title in clear sight after a regular season that earned the Tigers the No. 4 national seed. And, for the second year in a row, Auburn fell in a Super Regional on their home field to a team that was just better than them in two games.
It happens. Look at what happened in the NCAA Regionals to teams like UCLA and Southern Miss. Sometimes a team gets hot, and you can’t do anything to control it.
But for now, a lot of people in and around Auburn will be pondering the “what-ifs” of the series. It’s just human nature.
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