Auburn explodes offensively, eliminates USM 17-8
It started off poorly for Auburn, with starter Cole Nelson struggling early and often. Southern Miss put up five runs in the first, highlighted by a BA Vollmuth 2-run blast.
That put USM up 5-1, but Auburn would respond quickly and never look back.
Auburn put up 3, 1, 4, and 6 runs through the 5th inning respectively . Casey McElroy, Hunter Morris, and Trent Mummey all joined the offensive party with homeruns. McElroy hit a 3-run homer, as did Mummey, and Morris cleared the bases with a grand slam.
Auburn added more in the 8th to make it 17-7 Auburn.
USM had the bases loaded and no outs in the 9th, but Stephen Kolscheen came in and limited the Golden Eagles to one run to make it a 17-8 final.
Hunter Morris set the Auburn single season home run record with 23.
Bradley Hendrix came in for Nelson, who only made it 2.2 innings and threw a masterful 5.1 innings of relief to shut down USM.
There were a combined 32 hits, with Auburn totaling 15 and USM had 15.
Auburn moves on to play Clemson, facing elimination yet again. Game time was originally slated for 5, but may be pushed back a bit.
Another quick note, Auburn played error free baseball today, and will look to carry that over to tonight's matchup.
Auburn must beat Clemson tonight and tomorrow to advance to next weekend.
