Bingaman, Terrell walk it off

AUBURN | Ethin Bingaman and Bub Terrell provided the fireworks as No. 5 Auburn rallied for a 4-3 walk-off win over West Georgia Tuesday night at Plainsman Park.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Bingaman roped a single to right field to score pinch-runner Ty Thompson from second base to tie the game 3-3.

Terrell came to the plate and on a 2-2 pitch, lined the ball to left field bringing home Bingaman, who slid under the tag to score the winning run.

“Gabe (Gross) called timeout. He told me to slow everything down and just put a ball in play,” said Terrell. “It’s pretty big for the program. We’re trying to find a way to win midweeks. We’re going to keep pushing forward and coming to play every game.”

The Tigers trailed 3-1 going into the bottom of the eighth before pinch-hitter Mason McCraine lined a two-out, single off the left field wall to bring home his older brother, Brandon McCraine, from second base.

Ryan Hetzler (2-0) earned the win holding UWG without a hit in the top of the ninth.

“Being consistent is a mark of greatness but so is hanging in there on a slow night and keep being interested and having the spirit to visualize it,” said AU coach Butch Thompson. “What you hope is you’re a close enough team to pull those out.

“They threw the kitchen sink at us tonight. They played us off our feet tonight and gave us something to grow from. They absolutely gave us another nine innings that we need to keep learning and grow from.”

Bingaman, Brandon McCraine and Chase Fralick had two hits apiece for AU, which totaled nine in the game and left 10 runners on base.

“Bingaman is probably one of the best freshmen we’ve had in this program in a long time,” said Terrell. “He’s a great guy, great teammate, and his approach these last two weeks has just been amazing.”

AU starter Andreas Alvarez allowed two runs on five hits in 5.2 innings. He had seven strikeouts and one walk on 86 pitches. Drew Whalen gave up a run on four hits in 2.1 innings before turning it over to Hetzler.

Auburn, which improves to 7-1, hosts Nebraska for a three-game series at Plainsman Park beginning Friday night at 6 p.m. CT on SECN+.