Tag: Tigers Baseball

PHOTO GALLERY: Auburn’s special season ends in Omaha

The best images of Auburn’s season-ending game against the Arkansas Razorbacks in the College World Series

A magical run by Auburn Baseball came to a close on Tuesday evening.

The Tigers could not keep up with Arkansas’ high-octane offense in an elimination game, and would ultimately fall to their SEC West rivals 11-1 in the College World Series. The loss would unfortunately end their season.

After being limited to just one run over the first two innings, Arkansas rattled off seven runs over the 3rd and 4th innings, then would add insurance in the 6th and 9th innings to solidify the win.

Arkansas outhit the Tigers 16-4 in the game, and half of Auburn’s hits belonged to Sonny DiChiara. He grabbed the teams’ first hit in the 4th inning and reached base in his final Auburn at-bat with a single in the 9th inning. Auburn’s lone run came in the bottom of the 7th inning on a solo home run by Bobby Peirce, that trimmed the Razorback lead to 9-1.

Auburn finishes the season with a 43-22 record.

Auburn Baseball: How to watch, listen to Tuesday’s game against Arkansas

Auburn faces SEC rival Arkansas for a chance to extend their stay in Omaha.

Auburn Baseball broke a 25-year drought of winning a game at the College World Series on Monday. Now, they look to do something that they have not done since 1967 — win two games in the CWS.

The Tigers caught wind in the middle of their elimination game against No. 2 overall seed Stanford on Monday by scoring all six runs over the 6th and 7th innings to claim the 6-2 win over the Cardinal to stay alive in the College World Series.

The win was the first since 1997 when the Tigers defeated Rice, 10-1 in an elimination game of the College World Series.

Now that Stanford has been eliminated, it guarantees that an SEC West team will compete in the College World Series final as Auburn, Ole Miss, and Arkansas remain in their half of the bracket. The Tigers’ quest to become that one team left standing continues Tuesday as they battle Arkansas in another elimination game.

The Razorbacks went deep into their bullpen Monday night, using seven pitchers in their 13-5 loss to Ole Miss, with only one pitcher lasting over 2.0 innings.

Arkansas ran into the same issue that Auburn had with the Rebels on Saturday with its pitching. Ole Miss freshman Hunter Elliot, whose goal was to limit the amount of “Woo Pigs” that Arkansas fans chant throughout the game, achieved that by allowing just one earned run on six hits over 6.1 innings.

Arkansas, who shelled Stanford 17-2 in their opening game of the College World Series, was limited to eight hits on the night. Braydon Webb, Jalen Battles, and Peyton Stovall combined to record six of those hits.

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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Auburn pitcher gets the call to join the Los Angeles Angels

Daniel joins Keegan Thompson and Casey Mize as a member of Auburn’s 2017 starting rotation to get called up to the majors.

A key piece to Auburn’s stout pitching rotations in 2017 and 2018 is getting his chance to shine in the Major Leagues.

[autotag]Davis Daniel[/autotag], who was a starting pitcher for the Tigers from 2017-19, has been called up by the Los Angeles Angels and will be a part of the active roster for Saturday night’s game against the New York Mets in Anaheim, California.

Daniel, who is celebrating his 25th birthday on Saturday, says that he got the call from the manager of the Angels’ triple-A affiliate, Lou Marson, at 1 a.m. MDT, and was on a flight from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles at 8 a.m. MDT, according to Sam Blum of The Athletic.

In nine starts on the mound for the triple-A Salt Lake Bees, Daniel posted a  3-1 record with a 3.64 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 47.0 innings. It is unclear at the time of this post if Daniel will join the Angels rotation, or will be used as a bullpen arm.

Daniel was very instrumental during a significant era of Auburn pitching. In 2017, he was used as the Sunday starter in a weekend rotation that featured current Cubs starter [autotag]Keegan Thompson[/autotag] and Tigers starter [autotag]Casey Mize[/autotag]. Then, in 2018, he returned to the rotation with Mize as they added [autotag]Tanner Burns[/autotag] to the mix, who was later drafted by the Cleveland Indians with the No. 36 overall selection in 2020.

Prior to being taken in the 7th round by the Angels in 2019, Daniel made 37 career appearances and 27 starts for Auburn, where he posted a 7-7 record and 5.37 ERA to go along with 135 strikeouts in 139.0 innings.

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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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Butch Thompson changes mindset ahead of Super Regionals

As Auburn prepares to play in their third Super Regional in five years, head coach Butch Thompson does not want his team to be satisfied with just reaching Omaha.

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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Oregon State bests Vanderbilt, will host Auburn in Super Regionals

Auburn Baseball will go out west to play in their third Super Regional since 2018.

While one dream became a reality, another dream dies for Auburn Baseball.

The Tigers defeated UCLA on Monday, 11-4 to claim the Auburn Regional title, and win their first regional at Plainsman Park since 1999.

Winning the regional crown in front of their home fans was an amazing feat and a very monumental moment in the history of the program. In addition to needing a win over UCLA, Auburn also needed Vanderbilt to defeat Oregon State in order to host next week’s Super Regional.

However, the latter did not happen. The Beavers defeated Vanderbilt, 7-6 on Monday to move on to the Super Regional round, and to keep their home-field advantage.

As a result, Auburn’s next stop on the road to Omaha is Corvallis, Ore. to face Oregon State, the no. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

With Auburn’s regional win, the Tigers head to their third Super Regional in five seasons. Auburn dropped two of three to Florida in Gainesville in 2018, after a tough-luck play that ended in a walk-off home run by Florida’s Austin Langworthy in the 11th inning in game three of the series. In 2019, Auburn outscored North Carolina, 25-16 in Chapel Hill to advance to the College World Series since 1997.

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