After bullpen's superhuman save, how does Auburn baseball navigate remainder of super regional?
What was Butch Thompson contemplating as Auburn baseball's nightmare first inning of the super regional was unfolding?
Was he mapping out the next eight innings? Calculating who would pitch and how many innings?
Sure, thinking ahead seems like the natural instinct. But Thompson had one chief fear.
"Just try and get out of the first," he said. "I thought they were going to score 40."
Auburn (41-19) held No. 3 overall seed Oregon State (47-17) to four runs, at the cost of super regional starter Trace Bright. What followed was a bullpen masterclass, both from Thompson and pitching coach Tim Hudson – every move turned out to be the right one – and from the pitchers whose heavy lifting provided Auburn a 7-5 Game 1 win on Saturday night in Corvallis, Oregon.
None could have imagined after that harrowing first inning that Oregon State would be contained to just one more run.
But the managerial chess match of survival does not end now. It extends to Game 2 on Sunday (9 p.m. CT, ESPN2) and, if necessary, a decisive third game Monday. Thompson, Hudson and the Tigers pulled out all the stops to escape Game 1, and pitching will certainly become a factor if the series extends.
"You've got a minute to figure that out," Thompson said when asked how far ahead he was thinking during that inning. "You don't coach always the fourth inning in the first. The head coach can look ahead. Everybody else can't."
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Auburn's Sunday starter will pitch Game 2. It's Joseph Gonzalez (7-2, 2.90 ERA), who pitched into the seventh inning last weekend against Florida State. The idealist outcome is this: Gonzalez turns a dazzling start and leads Auburn to its second College World Series of the Thompson era.
But it's rarely that simple. Bright's start – all 47 pitches, ⅔ innings of it – sure wasn't.
"That's a trusted starter for us," Thompson said, but Bright got behind in counts, walked Beavers and allowed a power hitter to square up. Suddenly, "we're looking at 47 pitches. And it's like, 'Yep, we've got to punt here.'"
Freshman John Armstrong got the next three outs then handed off to the left-handed long relivers. Tommy Sheehan made his first appearance of the NCAA Tournament. He and Carson Skipper combined for 6 ⅓ innings of two-hit shutout relief.
Thompson made a conventional move for the ninth inning that still managed to subvert. Blake Burkhalter has struggled this postseason, but instead of riding Skipper, Auburn trusted its closer. Burkhalter passed the test.
He is certainly an option two days in a row if another save situation arises. Skipper and Sheehan seem spent. Out of the bullpen, that leaves mostly right-handers. Chase Allsup (2.67) and Carson Swilling (5.86) are the two main options with 27 innings each this season.
The central, looming problem? Oregon State's lineup struggles against lefties way more than right-handers. Five of the first seven batters are left-handed, including a stretch of four consecutive starting with Pac-12 player of the year Jacob Melton.
Auburn used its two best matchup weapons in Game 1. Worth it for the result, but risky for the future.
Secondary bullpen options include right-hander Chase Isbell (6.28 in 14 ⅓ innings) and lefties Brooks Fuller (8.53 in 6 ⅓) and Konner Copeland (4.20 in 15). Perhaps Thompson takes a chance with lefty matchups. Perhaps one of Saturday's heroes finds his way back into the game. Or perhaps Gonzalez makes this all easier for Auburn.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: How does Auburn baseball survive super regional after bullpen heroics?
