Auburn advances to the Super Regionals with win over UCLA

Auburn defeated UCLA on Monday to advance to the Super Regionals.

On Sunday, the Auburn Tigers were supposed to advance to the Super Regionals. However, the weather had other plans. Heavy rain and lightning in the area caused the game to be moved to Monday with a start time of 2 p.m. CT. The game went to six innings before the postponement.

Prior to the game being cancelled, the Tigers were on a roll. Butch Thompson’s squad jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning against Bruins starting pitcher James Hepp. Interestingly enough, Hepp didn’t record a single out before he was pulled from the game. After reaching on a hit by pitch, third baseman Blake Rambusch scored the game’s first run after a single by first baseman Sonny DiChiara.

Two batters later and it was designated hitter Brooks Carlson that capitalized with a sacrifice fly to bring across second baseman Cole Foster. The Tigers’ lead was 2-0 after a half of a inning.

After that, both teams were held in check until the top half of the fourth inning. Both catcher Nate LaRue and Blake Rambusch came around to score after being walked. The fan-favorite Sonny DiChiara delivered yet again with a two-run single. Tigers led 4-0 after three and a half innings of play.

Auburn starting pitcher Hayden Mullins pitched 5.1 innings, allowing just one hit and striking out ten batters. His night was finished as the game was postponed in the bottom of the sixth inning.

In the fifth, shortstop Brody Moore scored the Tigers only run off of a solo homerun. Then, the Tigers added an additional four runs in the sixth inning. The inning started with a double off of the bat of Carlson which brought across DiChiara to increase the lead to 6-0. With the bases loaded, LaRue delivered with a bases-clearing double to put the Tigers up 9-0. Soon after, the game was delayed and eventually called off due to the weather.

When the game resumed on Monday, the Bruins finally put some runs on the board. In the bottom half of the seventh inning, center-fielder Carson Yates hit a sacrifice fly to bring across a run. Then, catcher Darius Perry singled into center field to scratch across another run. After seven innings of play, the Tigers led 9-2.

In the bottom half of the eighth inning, Bruins pinch hitter Jack Holman hit a solo homerun. The next two out of three batters hit singles. They were then followed up by a RBI single off the bat of center-fielder Carson Yates. The Tigers’ lead was cut to 9-4.

In the ninth, Auburn pushed across two more insurance runs to make it 11-4. Closer Blake Burkhalter held the Bruins in check in the ninth inning to help the Tigers advance to the super regionals. The Tigers will now face the winner of the Oregon State vs Vanderbilt game that is taking place on Monday evening. If Oregon State wins, Auburn will travel to Corvallis to play the Beavers. However, if Vanderbilt wins, the Tigers will host the Commodores in the Super Regionals.

The date and time for Auburn’s games beginning in the super regionals are to be determined.