In a battle of top-three teams, it was all Auburn on Saturday morning against Texas. The No. 2 Tigers took down the No. 3 Longhorns by a final score of 4-1 in the quarterfinals of match play at the SEC Championship, advancing to the semifinals.
The only point that didn’t go Auburn’s way was the opening match, with senior Carson Bacha falling behind early on hole 2 and never recovering, ultimately losing 5&4 in his match. But superstar sophomore Jackson Koivun opened with a 31 on the front nine in the second match and was in control the whole way, winning 4&3. The final piece of the lineup this week, Auburn sent out Cayden Pope as the third player in the lineup and he went up early in the front nine and never trailed, managing to win his match 4&2. Josiah Gilbert and Brendan Valdes both won their matches on 18 to clinch the match.
It’s a quick turnaround with the semifinals teeing off at 12:30 p.m. CT against No. 8 ranked Florida. The Gators took down No. 6 Oklahoma 3-2 in their morning matchup. The semifinals of the SEC Championship will be broadcast on SECN+ starting at 2:30 p.m. CT.
Live scoring for the semifinals can be found HERE.
Auburn’s lineup order will shift some for this afternoon:
1. Carson Bacha vs. Luke Poulter (12:30 CT)
2. Brendan Valdes vs. Matthew Kress (12:4o CT)
3. Cayden Pope vs. Zack Swanwick (12:50 CT)
4. Jackson Koivun vs. Jack Turner (1 CT)
5. Josiah Gilbert vs. Ian Gilligan (1:10 CT)