The Bulldogs were down all evening, and Auburn was still down 4-1 heading into the ninth inning. However, they rallied for four runs to defeat Auburn 5-4 in one the most unlikely of endings. Chris Lemonis, State coach, said, “We fought, but we won.” Cole Gordon, the winning pitcher, said, “With our offense we’re never out in a game, which we know.” State won the 52nd game of the season, compared to only 13 losses. Surprisingly, it was the 28th of 52 times that the Bulldogs had come from behind to win. Seldom have things looked so grim before. The stakes were never higher. Remember that State had 11 runners on base in the first 8 innings and seven of them were in scoring position. The Bulldogs were in dire need of some help, and they found it from an unlikely source. Auburn third baseman Edouard Julien, who had a hand in the game, had blasted in three of Auburn’s runs. Two of those runs were scored by Ethan Small, with a mighty 430-foot homer. Auburn was still leading 4-3 when Dustin Skelton threw a seemingly simple ground ball to Julien. He seemed to double-clutch the ball and then toss it high above his head. Elijah MacNamee scored the game-tying run from second base after he had already doubled. With the bases loaded and two batters remaining, Marshall Gilbert, a nine-hole hitter, singled up the middle to score Skelton. The Bulldogs flooded the field from left field and the bullpen, causing chaos. The announced crowd of 22,671 State fans cheered loudly, with thousands in attendance. Sports writers in the press box were working under tight deadlines and spiked stories that they had been writing in the final innings. Auburn seemed to be in control. Truth is, this State team is never out of the game. They truly believe they can win, no matter what. Senior Jake Mangum is the fierce leadoff hitter, and center fielder. He was the first to reach base in the ninth. He hit a double-play line drive off the right field wall on his first pitch. He could have reached third base, but he wisely stayed at second. If others did not follow his lead, it was meaningless. After three runs, it is impossible to not want to be the third out. MacNamee said that Jake hit a double and I told him, “Well, here’s the deal.” Even though we were still down at the time, it was a sign of confidence to see our leadoff man continue. He is the best leadoff man in America. “When we got the energy form him, it started flowing through the team.” Tanner Allen walked after a strikeout. MacNamee, who is a pro in the clutch, then provided some energy. Allen advanced to third when he hit a double that he landed over the head of the third baseman and into the left field corner. Justin Foscue grounded out to short to score Allen, cutting the lead to 3-3. Julien, a Canadian sophomore, then threw out the final out. After a hit in the infield and a walk, Gilbert, who had been hitless in four previous at-bats, scored the winning run on Tanner Burns’s first pitch. Gilbert stated, “It was amazing that we got to that point when I was coming up the plate (with the chance to win it),” Gilbert said. Gilbert didn’t. “On previous at bats, I had been off, missed some pitch but I kept getting encouragement by my teammates, saying, “Keep going, keep moving, don’t give up,” Gilbert said. The Bulldogs did not quit. The Bulldogs didn’t give up when Julien turned down Small’s fastball letter high in the second inning. They did not quit when their lead was extended to 3-0, then to 4-1. It is important to understand the situation that the Bulldogs would have faced if they lost. They would have had to face Louisville in an elimination match Tuesday afternoon. They would have to win that game, but they would still need to win three more consecutively to reach the best two-out-of-three championship series. They would have to do it without Small, who will no doubt not pitch again if the Bulldogs win the championship series. The key now is Tuesday’s matchup at 6 p.m. with Vandy. To reach the championship series, the Bulldogs must win that matchup with Vandy. It is obvious that the difference between winning or losing a first game is huge. The Bulldogs were thrilled. The Auburn Tigers were also dejected. Butch Thompson, the Auburn coach and a former State pitching coach, said that they were hurt. We invested so much, and we thought we had a great plan. We did it. “We were only one play away.” He ran back to Auburn to check on Julien. Julien was clearly the most hurt of all.