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Auburn’s bats come out red hot in regional opener against Southeastern Louisiana

brody smoot
·4 min read

On Friday, the No. 14 national seed Auburn Tigers began their regional with a game against Southeastern Louisiana (30-29). Prior to their game getting underway, the Florida State Seminoles defeated the UCLA Bruins in game one of the regional at Plainsman Park. Therefore, the Seminoles advanced to the winner’s side of the bracket while the Bruins will face an elimination game on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Tigers had their own business to take care of on the diamond. Head coach Butch Thompson sent out junior right-handed pitcher Trace Bright while the Lions sent out right-handed pitcher Adam Guth.

Auburn came out with a tremendous start as they pushed across eleven runs in just the first inning. There were a handful of home runs that were hit in the inning. Second baseman Cole Foster got the party started with a home run to left to put the Tigers up 2-0. Two batters later, right-fielder Bobby Peirce delivered with a two-run home run to center field.

The Tigers saw Foster hit yet another home run in the first as he pulled through with a three-run shot to right field. Prior to his home run, the rest of the lineup pushed across three runs via a pair of walks and a sacrifice fly. Then, the fan-favorite Sonny DiChiara hit a solo homer to right-center field. Tigers held an 11-0 lead heading into the second inning.

The Lions came back in the second inning to score one run via the long ball. Center-fielder Tyler Finke put the Lions on the board. After one and a half innings, the Tigers led 11-1.

Catcher Nate LaRue kept the bats rolling with a solo home run to center field. The next batter was left-fielder Mike Bello who hit a single that was followed by an RBI single off the bat of third baseman Blake Rambusch. The good guys led 13-1 after two innings of play.

The Lions pushed across two runs in the top half of the third inning. A two-run single by third baseman Shea Thomas brought across Bryce Grizzaffi and Evan Keller. The Tigers led 13-3 after three innings of play.

In the fourth, the Lions scored a run. However, the Tigers countered that with a three-run homer off the bat of Foster. After being out for several weeks, he proved to be a very valuable piece in the lineup on Friday evening. The Tigers increased their lead to 16-4.

LaRue would homer again in the sixth. Things went quiet after that, as neither team scored again until the eighth. Two doubles for the Lions scored them three runs cutting the Tigers’ lead to 17-7. Auburn plated two more runs in the eighth and ultimately held the Lions in check in the ninth to win by a final score of 19-7.

Auburn will return to action to face Florida State at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday night. As for the Lions, they will face UCLA in an elimination game at 12 p.m. CT on Saturday. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers fair at home against one of the better teams from the ACC.