The Clemson Tigers defeated Auburn 5-2 in the NCAA Auburn Regional winner’s bracket game Saturday night at Plainsman Park.
Clemson scored three runs in their first at bat against Auburn’s starting pitcher Grant Dayton while Casey Harman, Clemson’s starting pitcher, kept Auburn from getting a hit until the fifth inning.
“You have to give credit to Clemson’s pitcher Casey Harman,” said Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski. “He did a great job and certainly kept us off balance all day long and made some big pitches. You can’t say enough about the job that Grant Dayton did. He gave us a chance, and that is what we ask of our starters. He was outstanding today except for an error or two, but the bottom line is that he gave us a chance to win, and unfortunately we could not get anything going offensively.”
Clemson scored two additional runs in the fourth inning, while Harman was able to keep Auburn from getting a hit until the fifth when Tony Caldwell hit a home run over left field. The homer was Caldwell’s tenth of the season.
Clemson did not get a hit off Dayton from the fifth inning until the eighth when shortstop Brad Miller singled to left. Relief pitcher Sean Ray stepped in for Dayton after the single.
“Early in the game, I was struggling with my fastball,” Dayton said. “I made a couple of mistakes in the first inning, and it showed on the scoreboard. After that, I settled in a little bit and was able to get my fastball going. I started to throw some off speed and some strikes, and I was good after that. It was just the first couple of innings that I struggled, and that was the difference for me. ”
Auburn first baseman Hunter Morris hit the team‘s second home run of the game in the ninth inning making the score 5-2. The home run was Morris’ 22nd of the season, tying him with Todd Faulkner for the school record for home runs in a season (2000).
The loss was Auburn’s first at home when an opponent starts a left-handed pitcher and is now 19-4 overall against southpaws.
“We played a really good ballgame, and it started right on the mound with Casey Harman,” said Clemson Head Coach Jack Legget. “He threw strikes, mixed his pitches and got ahead of batters all night. We played really good defense behind Casey all night as well. We got the runs we needed early in the game and competed the whole time.”