Auburn Baseball under head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] is seeing its’ best stretch since the days of former coach Hal Baird, and it does not appear to be slowing down.
The Tigers swept their competition during last weekend’s Auburn Regional, where they outscored their opponents 51-17 in three games. Next up for Auburn is a trip to the west coast to take on Pac-12 power Oregon State in the Super Regional for a chance to compete in the College World Series for the second time since 2019.
Most programs’ goal at the beginning of the season is to make it to Omaha. But, for Thompson, he wants his team to get in the mindset that they can achieve more than just making it to the College World Series.
“It’s “national championship or bust”, says Thompson. “If you just play the “Omaha” game to get to Omaha, it can be like 2019 or other times that I’ve been where it’s “two and a barbecue.”
Prior to arriving in Auburn to take over the program in 2016, Thompson went to the College World Series once with Mississippi State as an assistant coach, when the Bulldogs finished as national runner-up in 2013. He says that if he wants his team to have a “championship” mindset, it has to start with him.
“People don’t fail because they aim high and miss, it’s because they aim low and hit.” says Thompson, quoting motivational speaker Les Brown. “For me to not aim high for our program, and start having our guys to envision a national championship, (then) I’m selling our (fans) short, and the potential of our program short.”
Auburn’s quest for the program’s first national championship continues Saturday-Monday in Corvallis, Ore. against the Oregon State Beavers. First pitch of Saturday’s game one is set for 9 p.m. CDT, and can be seen on ESPN2.
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