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Auburn HC Butch Thompson - 2026 Opening Day Win · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

• 0:01
  I'm not tall enough.
• 0:04
  >> I need to
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  >> questions for coach
• 0:11
  as a pitching coach to have a game like
• 0:14
  that.
• 0:21
  >> Yeah, that was a lot. That felt like
• 0:22
  mid-season type stuff. And I do think
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  I've got a bunch of emotions, but I
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  think the overriding emotion is a game
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  like that absolutely can crystallize
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  some things for you and and learn and
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  grow from and it's a benefit if you can
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  find the the right way. Uh Marciano,
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  somebody told me that was the first time
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  since 19 and in a start like that. I
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  think Tanner Burns, shout out to him. He
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  reached out to me today about opening
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  day. So, um and it was real and it was
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  just strike one after strike one after
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  strike one. what we talk about and uh
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  thought he was great. Thought Whan was
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  great. I guess I don't think he
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  surrendered a hit in three innings and
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  uh just felt like he had I don't know
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  what it was maybe five pitches in the
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  eighth and I'm like don't don't fool
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  with the game and uh so we run him back
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  out in the walk and HBP really put us
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  behind the eightball with the one-run
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  lead. Um I guess after they moved up to
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  second and third, we got to two strikes
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  and um I thought Whan threw a slider
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  that was fouled back, he threw a fast
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  ball was fouled back and I just felt
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  like the ball was going to be put in
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  play and and Brewer who we had had ready
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  and um and he was ready enough to come
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  in the middle of an at bat and uh was
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  able to get swing and miss. I thought
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  that was our a shot in the dart. you
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  know, were we going to get out of that
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  tied going into the bottom of the ninth
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  or down one? I don't know. But I thought
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  we had a chance for swing and miss. If
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  we could just grab an out, maybe we'd
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  have a chance. So Brewer come in and I
• 1:53
  don't think we've practiced that skill
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  to be honest. And um maybe back in the
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  fall, I think we did it a couple of
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  times. It was a hallmark in the past uh
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  that done before um and we pulled it out
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  and it and it worked out. But um I
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  thought the players just we've been
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  playing a lot of ninth inning stuff in
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  our preparation and really committing to
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  it and um those three guys we needed
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  three guys to pitch great tonight and we
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  actually got that and it gave us a gave
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  us a chance to win a ball game but uh
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  already those three guys already
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  experienced in that is is huge for us
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  and having success and can take some
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  some confidence from it as well.
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  performance
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  with how early in the season it is. I
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  mean, what are your kind of thoughts on
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  just
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  message the guys?
• 2:52
  >> Yeah, just find finding a plan B, but
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  it's just it's the puppeteer and the
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  puppet and uh when he got on a roll, he
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  threw all the skills at us. I don't
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  think it was um a fluke. I I thought we
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  chased a fast ball up to begin with and
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  then here come a slide step at 11 one
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  that kept us at bay and then he just
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  started landing breaking balls at will
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  for strikes. Then we got in between
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  pitches. So I think he had 11 punch outs
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  and um I just hadn't seen it. I was
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  surprised to be honest with you. We've
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  been having really good at bats and been
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  feeling the confidence, you know,
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  momentum. You know, you either got it or
• 3:36
  you're trying to get it. And I thought
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  we had it offensively. So, and why I say
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  it's not a fluke, that guy was throwing
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  skills at us. It wasn't just like, you
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  know, he was absolutely doing something
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  to create that. Um, so I I G hard I tip
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  my hat to him. U but I just hadn't seen
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  that out of our guys. That was the best
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  outing against our hitters that we've
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  seen because we really, you know, we'll
• 4:03
  put some different guys in tomorrow
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  because I told you I wanted to see some
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  guys, but we had the guys in a game we
• 4:07
  wanted in the game tonight and um we got
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  it handed to us and then uh and then I
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  knew we were in for a baseball game
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  because when they went to the pin and
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  some balls started getting hit hard, I
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  really think about the seventh inning
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  steel and bub. I'm like, "Okay, well the
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  bats were starting to have and getting
• 4:24
  better. If they're going right to a
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  glove, it's on. Um, and then you know
• 4:29
  the leadoff guy. I'm going to go back to
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  what we've been practicing and talking
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  about. I think we got two leadoff guys
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  on. Chris Reberts, the first RBI was two
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  out hit and then Gavvar's double there
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  helped us and then Freighic just had a a
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  team at bat. You know, I was glad we had
• 4:45
  lefty up and even more happy we had
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  Freighic up to get a ground ball through
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  the right side to help us get the
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  go-ahehead run, but we just we didn't
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  get the leadoff man on enough tonight
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  two times and um that's a big deal. So,
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  we were behind the eightball. I do give
• 5:00
  the starter credit. I'm more interested
• 5:03
  in us learning and growing right now
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  with this club that I'm really
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  interested about our preparation
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  tomorrow and our bats and getting to
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  play another game tomorrow. Um, that's
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  what we can control more than than than
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  anything else. I think they made a few
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  errors. Um, but we struck out so much
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  early that we didn't pressure their
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  defense enough. I would like to see a
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  few things happen tomorrow with our
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  offense and see them respond.
• 5:35
  >> We're staying pat. We're going to talk
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  at 8:30. I I really thought when the
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  game was over that they were going to
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  tell me two and six tomorrow, but I
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  don't know. I guess uh our meteorologist
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  had thought that it's going to clear up
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  and they're not leaving till Wednesday.
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  So, we feel like we might be later
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  Sunday, but we're going to look at 8:30
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  and see if it filled