Tag: Oregon State baseball

USC baseball moves one step closer to Pac-12 Tournament semifinals

Arizona State’s 14-10 win over No. 2 seed Oregon State eliminates the Beavers. #USC has an either-or scenario to make the semis.

The USC Trojans knew when they woke up on Thursday morning in Scottsdale, Arizona, that if they defeated the Washington Huskies in their last round-robin game of the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament, they would qualify for Friday’s semifinal round. Now, they know that even if they lose to Washington, they have a very realistic path to the semifinals.

In Thursday’s first game — the 10 a.m. game from Scottsdale Stadium — fifth-seeded Arizona State beat second-seeded Oregon State, 14-10. The Beavers, whose pitching staff got shredded this week, have been eliminated from the tournament. They lost to Arizona, 13-12, on Wednesday. This 14-10 defeat knocks them out.

Because the Pac-12 Tournament’s pool play structure gives tiebreakers to higher seeds, Oregon State being eliminated means that even if USC loses to third-seeded Washington, the Trojans — seeded fourth — still have a good chance of making the semifinals.

Because USC already beat UCLA this week at the Pac-12 Tournament, the Trojans will win a tiebreaker with fifth-seeded Arizona State and sixth-seeded Oregon. ASU has already lost a game this week, so the Trojans are guaranteed to finish above ASU no matter what. Oregon, however, defeated Cal on Tuesday. The Ducks need to lose in order for USC to win a potential tiebreaker with Oregon.

The good news for USC: Oregon faces No. 1 seed Stanford in the late game on Thursday. If the Trojans can’t beat Washington, they’re still in the semis if Stanford beats Oregon.

USC has to like its chances.

The Trojans would have to lose to Washington and see Oregon upset Stanford in order to fall short of the semifinals. That’s they only way they won’t play on Friday in the desert.

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Auburn Baseball: How to watch, listen to game three of the Corvallis Regional

Auburn battles Oregon State in game three of the Corvallis with a trip to Omaha on the line.

The Oregon State Beavers used two early home runs and solid pitching to overcome two crucial errors in game two of the Corvallis Super Regional against Auburn, stealing a 4-3 win over the Tigers to set up a winner-take-all game three on Monday evening with a slot in the College World Series on the line.

Auburn’s Joseph Gonzalez matched Golden Spikes Award finalist Cooper Hjerpe step-for-step through the first three innings, but it would be the Beavers that broke the mold first by hitting two solo home runs to grab the 2-0 lead in the 4th inning. Oregon State’s lead would live for a short time, as Auburn tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a wild pitch, and an RBI double by Brody Moore.

The Beavers scored two runs over the 5th and 6th innings, and Auburn responded by scoring yet again on a wild pitch. Both bullpens did their part by not allowing a run over the final four frames, solidifying Oregon State’s victory.

Auburn hopes to see more production from the bats in game three on Monday night, to compliment the exceptional series put together by the Tiger bullpen. It will be important to attack Oregon State’s pitching early in order to get the win and advance to the College World Series.

PHOTO GALLERY: Auburn drops game 2 to Oregon State

Here are the best images from game two of the Corvallis Super Regional between Auburn and Oregon State

Auburn will have to wait one more day for the chance to punch their ticket to Omaha, as they dropped game two of the Corvallis Super Regional to Oregon State on Sunday, 4-3.

Auburn could not quite get the bats going as they were only able to muster three total hits against Golden Spikes Award finalist Cooper Hjerpe, and grabbed just two more off of relief pitcher Ben Ferrer. While there were few, Auburn was able to take advantage of mistakes by the Beavers’ pitching staff, as they scored two of their three runs on wild pitches.

While you wait for game three between Auburn and Oregon State, take a look at the best images from game two.

Auburn bullpen uses ‘next man up’ mentality in win over Oregon State

After Trace Bright’s early departure from game one against Oregon State, the Auburn bullpen stepped up to aid in victory.

Prior to Auburn Baseball’s departure for Corvallis, Oregon, on Thursday, head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] told reporters that this year’s squad was special, citing that the players have meshed well with one another, which has formed a healthy clubhouse.

Auburn’s “got your back” mentality was on full display during game one of the Corvallis Super Regional, in the form of the bullpen, which was instrumental in Auburn’s 7-5 win over Oregon in game one of the best-of-three series.

Auburn starting pitcher [autotag]Trace Bright[/autotag]’s night unfortunately ended after recording just two outs on 47 pitches. Thompson called on [autotag]John Armstrong[/autotag] to dig them out of a hole, before handing the baseball to [autotag]Tommy Sheehan[/autotag]. That is where the Tigers began finding success on the mound.

Sheehan took control of the game on the mound by tossing 3.1 innings of shut-out baseball, striking out three batters and allowing two hits. Sheehan’s confidence grew with every pitch, which erased the pressure that his team felt early on.

“We have had a ‘next man up’ mentality all year, and we just tried to stick with that, not try to do too much out there in a big spot,” Sheehan said in a postgame interview with the Auburn Sports Network. “(I just) tried to be myself and stick to the game plan and let the guys field behind me.”

Sheehan exited the game after the 5th inning, turning the keys over to [autotag]Carson Skipper[/autotag] and [autotag]Blake Burkhalter[/autotag] to close the game. Their outings were just as successful as Sheehan’s, which helped Auburn grab that valuable game one victory. Skipper struck out five batters in 3.0 innings of relief, which set up Burkhalter to grab his SEC-best 14th save of the season after allowing a run on two hits in the 9th inning.

“Those are the guys we want to get (the ball to), they have been our guys all year,” said Sheehan. “My motto has been ‘get the ball to (Burkhalter)’ all year. That’s what we did and it worked out for us.”

Auburn will turn to Joseph Gonzalez for game two of the Corvallis Super Regional against Oregon State on Sunday. The first pitch is set for 9 p.m. CDT, and can be seen on ESPN2.

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The foundation to Auburn Baseball’s success is consistency

After a disappointing season in 2021, Auburn Baseball is back on track to continue the successes of the 2018 and 2019 teams.

The Auburn Tigers are the hottest team in college baseball. The Tigers swept the competition at last weekend’s Auburn Regional, outscoring their opponents 51-17 in the process.

Auburn dominated the regional in all three aspects. At the plate, Auburn hit 13 long balls, which included a three-home run game by [autotag]Cole Foster[/autotag] in Friday’s regional opener against Southeastern Louisiana. The confidence at the plate translated to the field, as Auburn only committed one error on the weekend. Pitching was also dominant, as the starting pitcher in two of the three games struck out ten batters a piece.

Some teams catch wind and have luck at certain points through the year. For Auburn, they are starting to see their consistent play throughout the season payoff.

Head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] was quoted as saying “National Championship or bust” following last weekend’s regional win. He says that the team’s consistency has given him trust, as well as the confidence, to make that claim as they head to Oregon State to face the Beavers in this weekend’s Super Regional.

“We got to a certain point in the season where I said I trust this ball club,” said Thompson prior to the team’s departure for Corvallis, Oregon on Thursday. “This is a ball club of consistency. We have never lost more than two games (in a row) over the season. I don’t know if I have had that in my 30 years of coaching, so there’s a model consistency. I have had trust, and now I believe in them.”

The constant play of this team is the product of a solid build up. Prior to the 2020 season that was abruptly ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Auburn had developed into one of the nation’s best programs.

In 2018. Auburn won the Raleigh Regional in similar fashion to last weekend’s Auburn Regional, and appeared in their first Super Regional since 1999 before falling to SEC foe Florida.

Auburn built off that success in 2019 by appearing in their second-straight Super Regional. The Tigers went on to take two-of-three from North Carolina on the road, and went on to make their first appearance in the College World Series since 1997.

After a season of struggles in 2021, Auburn seems to have found their way back on track to getting to the ultimate goal of being national champion. The player’s energy has rubbed off on Thompson.

 “I feel the chip on their shoulder,” says Thompson. “For those guys to come back last season, a lot of people were like “they are done, they are no good”, and for them to trigger back in, I started feeling it last year.” 

Auburn will spend Friday practicing and adjusting to the climate that the state of Oregon presents, then will lock in and begin the Super Regionals late Saturday night against Oregon State. First pitch between the Tigers and Beavers is set for 9 p.m. CDT.

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