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With Xavier having to cancel this weekend’s series against Auburn due to COVID-19 issues, Butch Thompson and the Tigers had to quickly find a new opponent or face a rare off weekend just as the season began.
Luckily, Thompson had a good friend he could call that was facing the same situation: Boston College head coach Mike Gambino.
“I’ve known Mike, he used to be a scout in the southeast,” Thompson said. “He’s a good friend, so he’s kind of one of those rolodex guys that you have and has done an amazing job and has built a program into a top 20 level and is crazy excited about his program, as he should be. He was going to top 25 opponent in Wake Forest and seemed earnest in trying to fill it the best he could. He thought enough of our program that as we kept going through and talking and the hours past, it became evident that this was the best thing to make everyone feel comfortable. So, here we go. Auburn and BC.”
The Eagles bring in a team ranked at No. 18 in the latest poll and 5-1 on the season including an impressive series win at No. 11 Duke last week.
Auburn took part in the Round Rock Classic this past weekend, earning a 6-1 victory over Texas A&M after losses to Oklahoma and Baylor.
After review, Thompson is feeling better about how the Tigers played in the round-robin tournament.
“Now that it’s been a few days, you know, in the moment sometimes, my heart’s in this thing,” he said. “Just like a lot of our fans that love Auburn, in any of our sports, we’re so connected that the immediate feeling is disappointment of not getting something done that you decided to do like winning a series. Now that we’re days past, I feel better about our team than if we would have stayed here and played another series at home because I thought it ushered in some things for us to continue to work on. We’ve been more invested, more convicted to be working this week.”
Here’s everything else Thompson said as the Tigers prepare for Boston College.
On what has stood out to him about Tyler Miller…
“I’ll start with the defense. It’s continued to get better and better and better. Sunday, in game three, he turned a 3-6-1 double play that in the past, I think most coaches in college baseball, if you could just caught the ball, walked over and touched first base and had a 3-unassisted everybody would be happy. Sunday, he looked like a shortstop playing the first base position and turned that 3-6-1 double play. I thought that was huge. He’s worked really hard at that position.
“He’s had a great swing. I mean, he’s a junior college shortstop. He’s been drafted before. He’s come in here last year in a short year, and I think he’s learned a lot, grown a lot and is willing to be at third or first or wherever he can be to make a difference. And that bat plays. I’m excited. He’s one of those guys, when you see him get it going like that, it just lengthens our lineup so much.”
On what stood out about Trace Bright’s outing Sunday…
“He just hadn’t been given that opportunity, just hadn’t had a chance to draw a weekend start.
“I thought it was a dominant outing, because the team kind of just needed some steadiness on the mound at the time. I really think we could have had more success out there. We got the ball to a couple of what we think are our best guys, and then he gets a start against a SEC team and goes six innings. He’s always kind of a laid back character and it’s not that rah-rah in your face, but when you put that on the mound in a Triple-A stadium, it kind of looks stoic. It kind of looked like he was in control of his emotions. It was it was kind of like just what the doctor ordered from a presence standpoint. It was good stuff. He was running a real fastball that was commanded. And he was definitely mixing pitches. He just stayed out of the middle of the plate.”