AUBURN, Ala. — The No. 4 national seed Auburn Tigers (41-18) clobbered the North Carolina State Wolfpack (35-21) 11-1 on Sunday night to advance to the fifth Super Regional in the program’s storied history.
Despite the final score, Auburn started slow at the plate Sunday night. The hot Tigers lineup was held scoreless through the first three frames, leaving four runners on base in the process.
Although Auburn failed to plate runs in the first few innings, the Tigers were successful in running the pitch count of NC State starter Dominic Fritton up, and by the fourth inning, Auburn had worn the southpaw down.
Auburn loaded the bases with the first three batters of the inning, and Fritton was removed from the ball game. The Tigers then took advantage of a depleted Wolfpack bullpen. Chris Rembert hit a two-RBI double to score the game’s first runs. Bub Terrell followed with an RBI double himself before Ike Irish hit a three-run home run to cap off the big inning.
“This was special in Auburn this weekend. [We] kept chopping away and finally chopped that tree down the seven-run fourth inning, the difference in the game,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said.
The Tigers would stay hot in the fifth inning, tacking on three more runs. Once again, Rembert and Terrell delivered for the Tigers. Rembert and Terrell replicated what they did an inning before, with Rembert hitting a two-RBI double and Terrell with a solo RBI double.
Auburn scored 11 runs in all on Sunday night, and that would be more than enough for the Tigers because of stellar work on the mound from freshman starter Andreas Alvarez.
Alvarez threw five innings, allowing no runs and striking out five. It was an impressive performance in a pivotal spot for the Tigers with a trip to the Super Regionals on the line, and Alvarez delivered.
“He was amazing,” Thompson said. “His best outing of his career. And I'm like, this is going to be a great experience for him.”
Junior reliever Cade Fisher relieved Alvarez in the sixth with runners on first and second with no outs, but ultimately stranded the runners. Fisher threw four innings in relief, holding Auburn’s lead in the process.
Auburn finished the Regional 3-0, avoiding the if-necessary game on Monday. It was an impressive weekend to add to what has been an impressive season to date for the Tigers. However, the story is still being written. The Tigers advanced to just their fifth Super Regional in program history and once again have their eyes on Omaha.
“[Hosting a Super Regional] is going to be exciting,” Irish said. “I think we'll have a lot more fans. Hopefully, we have night games so they can have a little more liquid confidence in them, and we're looking forward to it.”
Auburn will host Coastal Carolina in the Super Regionals next weekend at Plainsman Park with a spot in Omaha on the line.
