AUBURN, Ala. – Winning its third straight elimination game, No. 4 Auburn beat Milwaukee 8-1 after midnight Sunday at Plainsman Park in the NCAA Auburn Regional final, forcing a winner-take-all matchup Monday with a super regional on the line.
“The job’s not done,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson told reporters at 1:08 a.m. Monday. “We’ve got to come out here tomorrow and stay present and keep fighting. The boys fought hard all day. We can see the summit, but these guys have to get home.”
After pitching the last 3.0 innings of Sunday’s 9-3 victory over UCF and earning the save, Ryan Hetzler started against the Panthers, throwing 4.0 innings and striking out six while allowing one earned run on three hits, a performance that ranks among the most impressive in recent program history.
“Something I’ve never done before,” said Hetzler, who Sunday’s doubleheader included 11 strikeouts, no walks, a career-high 104 pitches and one run allowed in 7.0 innings. “Unbelievable to have the trust to go out and save our bullpen some innings. Having the Auburn family behind me is unbelievable.”
“That was the most unbelievable thing I’ve seen since 12-year-old baseball,” catcher Chase Fralick said of Hetzler’s heroics. “He did an incredible job. He did an unbelievable job of controlling the strike zone and getting us some zeros up there to start.”
The visiting team, Auburn scored five runs in the top of the second inning. Ethin Bingaman led off with a single and scored on Cade Belyeu’s double for a 1-0 Auburn lead. Four batters later, Belyeu scored on Eric Guevara’s sacrifice fly.
Continuing his epic tournament, Fralick hit a three-run home run, the first Milwaukee starter Camden Kuhnke has allowed this season, a towering blast that sailed nearly over the Player Development Center, setting the program record with his fifth regional homer.
“The team was locked in all day today,” Fralick said. “Everybody competed. We made a great adjustment with our gameplan and everybody went out and executed.”
LJ Cormier relieved Hetzler in the top of the fifth, striking out the side to preserve Auburn’s four-run lead.
In the top of the sixth, Auburn scored three runs without a base hit, capitalizing on a walk, three hit batters, a wild pitch and Guevara’s second sacrifice fly to give the Tigers an 8-1 lead.
Cormier (2-0) earned the victory, retiring the first eight batters he faced, striking out a career-best eight in 5.0 scoreless innings while allowing only one hit.
With a super regional appearance on the line, Auburn (41-20) plays Milwaukee (27-32) Monday at 5 p.m. CT at Plainsman Park.
“We’ve got to get back and figure out who’s going to pitch,” Thompson said. “They did score 26 runs in the first two games which is the most for a No. 4 seed in the history of this tournament. We need a good spirit tomorrow, we’ve got to stay hot offensively, and we’ve got to figure out what we’re going to do on the mound.”
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer
