MSU nine-hole hitter Marshall Gilbert gets mobbed after notching the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
2019 College World Series: Day Two In Photos
College World SeriesOMAHA, Neb. — There is nothing more American than a good miracle ending.
C’mon, look at how every WWE match ends.
We believe in miracles. We believe in destiny. We believe in heroes.
Tonight we believe in Hail State.
What a finish. What a panic. What a group of believers these Bulldogs are. Down 4-1 going into the ninth and facing what is arguably the best pitcher in the country (hey, I said “arguably”) and all the ‘Dogs did was overcome Tanner Burns and get a little mondo bizarro along the way to pull out an unlikely 5-4 win over Auburn.
The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat portrayed in one picture with Auburn’s dismay and State’s exultation.
But how crushed do you feel for Edouard Julien? He was the hero early on (two-run homer and RBI single in first two at-bats) and the zero later on (an error on a routine play that should’ve ended the game in a win for the Tigers). Man, sometimes fate ain’t so nice. It’s downright cruel.
The day’s first game saw Vanderbilt use an Aston Martin-like performance from Austin Martin, who smacked two home runs, to outlast Louisville 3-1 in a tight, *mostly* well-pitched performance. Drake Fellows did give up seven hits in seven innings, but held a potentially dangerous batting order to one walk and one run. Bully for him.
The story on the Louisville side wasn’t so much that Reid Detmers only gave up three hits in his 5.2 innings of mound work, it’s that he gave up a leadoff home run to Martin and also walked six to put his team behind the eight ball.
The swing is the thing. Austin Martin follows through on one of his home runs. Note the bend of the bat as he launches the ball (in upper left of the picture).
Interestingly Louisville went 4-0 against the SEC this season except for when they played Vanderbilt, who they now have lost twice to.
These two losses really put Louisville and Auburn behind the eight ball for winning the national title. These two programs don’t have the deepest pitching staffs. In fact, I went so far as to say that of the eight teams in the field, UofL and AU were the two teams who needed to win in the opening round the most.
And keep in mind that the national champion has lost its first game in Omaha just four of the last 38 years. However if you are a contrarian, one of those four exceptions was Oregon State last season, who got pasted by North Carolina, 8-6, before winning four straight games to get to the championship round.
So don’t get too bummed out Cardinals and Tigers, remember how this country LOVES a miracle ending.
PICS
The best images of day two at the College World Series:
Dos Equis. Austin Martin shows us the number of times that he homered in the win over Louisville. (Yes, yes, Vandy fans, I know that’s actually the “anchor down” sign)
This is about as animated as you’ll see VU head coach Tim Corbin. This was snapped during Austin Martin’s home run trot to start the game.
Austin Martin gives a professional wrestling-like foot stomp on home plate. As I tweeted earlier, is it some kind of team policy to emphatically stomp home plate after a home run at Vanderbilt? I really don’t know the answer.
Catcher Philip Clarke gives a fist-pump of confidence to Commodore starter Drake Fellows. Man, you gotta love the Drake.
The Vanderbilt running game was stifled, as witnessed by Harrison Ray getting pegged on this steal attempt against the UofL defense.
Major League Tourque! Edouard Julien puts his all into this home run swing, giving Auburn an early lead they wouldn’t relinquish till the final pitch of the game. By the way, this home run traveled an estimated 429 feet, which is the longest in TD Ameritrade Park history.
… that led to this mob scene as Julien gets that loving feeling from his teammates.
The Auburn middle infield of SS Will Holland and 2B Ryan Bliss was blissfully wonderful today making clutch play after clutch play to keep AU ahead for nearly all of the game.
Some of his Tiger teammates tried to console Edouard Julien after the game, but to no avail.
