With the game tied going into the ninth inning against No. 10 Mississippi State, Auburn had one of its hottest hitters coming to the plate to lead off in Chase Fralick.
The sophomore didn’t disappoint, knocking a 1-2 pitch over the fence in right-center field to give the No. 5 Tigers a 5-4 lead.
This came after the Bulldogs had come back from a 4-0 deficit, tying the game in the eighth inning. Fralick and his teammates didn’t panic, though.
“It just shows resilience,” Fralick said. “We can bounce back from any game, whether teams are making a comeback or if we’re on the ropes, this team can do anything. “We’ve done a great job controlling our composure. We know what we have to do when we go out there on the field and the gameplan we have when we go against a pitcher. If we execute, we have faith we’re going to be on the good side of the result.”
Auburn stays calm in final inning
Fralick has been on fire as of late, including a five-game stretch in which he homered in each game. In the doubleheader last Saturday at No. 6 Texas A&M, the Peachtree City, Ga., native hit a dinger in the first game before knocking two over the fence in the second.
His homer in Starkville was just as massive.
Jackson Sanders, who was pitching his fifth inning of the game, made sure Fralick’s solo homerun stood up, sitting down the Bulldogs in order to close out the 5-4 win to tie the series.
“At the end of the day, it’s just me and (Fralick) out there competing. It’s the man in the arena,” Sanders said. “That’s what we’ve talked about all weekend. Just try to be the man in the arena. Don’t worry about who’s on the outside, but just compete and get it done.”
The rubber match takes place on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.
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