Butch Thompson breaks down early Auburn struggles against Ole Miss

With Auburn trailing Ole Miss 3-0 midway through their College World Series opener, coach Butch Thompson spoke about their early struggles. The Tigers had yet to record a hit until the end of the fifth inning, when Brody Moore finally hit a single to get their first player on base in the game.

Auburn struggling early with Ole Miss at College World Series

Before his team came to the plate in the fifth inning, Thompson spoke to the broadcast team about his team’s meeting with hitting coach Gabe Gross as they searched for some kind of offense.

“Just hang in there, you know we haven’t hit it yet,” Thompson said of their advice to Auburn’s batters. “It’s gonna be hard if we can’t get that going. Probably just slow down. Guy’s done a nice job of mixing pitches and with two strikes we keep chasing up. We’re only the second time through the lineup. Just gotta keep battling, have better at-bats.”

The game started quickly in Ole Miss’ favor after a two-run first inning despite recording two quick outs. Auburn pitcher Joseph Gonzales appeared to struggle to find his pitches outside of his sinker, something that Thompson noted during his dugout interview.

“They put in a couple extra left-handed hitters I think just to combat [Gonzales],” said Thompson. “And so far it’s worked for them. But all three of their runs have come with two outs and nobody on. It’s been close. Instead of getting that true sink, I think a couple of those balls have moved away from left-handers. Chatagnier got an 0-2 hit. We’re pretty close right here. Joseph needs to really find some sink and get some outs. We don’t need to give up any more before we score.”

After holding Auburn scoreless through the fifth inning, the Rebels had posted 25 consecutive innings without giving up a run to opponents — a dominant streak that the Tigers will have to break if they want to remain a zero-loss team at the CWS.