Butch Thompson reveals how close he came to pulling Trace Bright early

The Auburn Tigers survived their elimination game on Monday night against the number two team in the nation, the Stanford Cardinal. And Tigers skipper Butch Thompson gained a new level of respect for pitcher Trace Bright. After Auburn’s impressive victory, Thompson praised his pitcher and also revealed how close he came to pulling Bright early.

“I think I gained more respect for him today than ever. I thought he was one hitter away — I don’t know if he knows that — one hitter away of coming out in the third inning, but he weathered the storm,” said Thompson. “We really were scouting report interested in can your fastball survive, and the first two runs come off of breaking balls that I can’t see from the side, but maybe grabbed a little more plate, or not our best breaking balls, how they got their first two runs. One barely hit the chalk down the third-base line and he held it together. He came out with his fastball in the third inning and got us all the way through the left. Left a runner at third to finish his outing.”

Bright had a solid bounce-back game after having arguably his worst performance of the season in Auburn’s Super Regional series against the Oregon State Beavers. Against Oregon State, the junior right-hand pitcher got the early hook as he gave up four earned runs on three hits and put three runners on base by balls. And Bright did all that in just the first inning.

In Monday’s match-up, he fared much better over five innings of work. Bright gave up five hits with two earned runs while on the mound. But Bright was accurate in locating the strike zone often against Stanford hitters. He finished with eight of the Tigers’ 16 strikeouts, and Bright was aware of it as he highlighted it in his statement below:

“Location, that was the biggest thing. They were aggressive. Being able to flip it off-speed in there behind in the count was huge for me. We knew they were aggressive going in. They jumped on some first pitches and made me pay for it. But I think I got my command later in the first a little bit and then better in the third, more so. So that was the biggest thing for me.”

Bright, along with the rest of the Tigers pitching crew, helped secure the program’s first College World Series victory in 25 years. Up next, the Tigers will face off against a familiar rival. Auburn will face the Arkansas Razorbacks. That game will take place on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.