'The excitement is unbelievable' as Auburn heads to OKC

'The excitement is unbelievable' as Auburn heads to OKC'The excitement is unbelievable' as Auburn heads to OKC

May 30, 2016

By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. - This time it's a business trip. Most everybody says so of Auburn's second straight journey to softball's College World Series.

But it's still an experience, they are still college kids and it's going to be fun.

"The excitement is unbelievable," said coach Clint Myers as fans cheered his team as they left the Auburn Athletic Complex on Monday for their trip to Oklahoma City.

"The nicest and the best thing is you can see the joy on their faces because they know they've worked really hard and this is just the fruits of that labor. I'm extremely proud of them, how they've handled themselves and how they've played."

How they played in last weekend's Super Regional showed they mean business. Auburn lost to Arizona in the first game of the Super Regional before coming back to win two games Sunday to advance.

Now, Auburn will play UCLA at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in Oklahoma City on ESPN. The two teams know what's in store. The Tigers beat UCLA 11-10 in 10 innings at the World Series last season.

This season, Auburn is 6-1 against the World Series field.


"We're ready for it," said Auburn's Kasey Cooper. "We know it's going to be a long process. We're here to win a national championship and we expect nothing less."

Pack lots of clothes. The tournament is scheduled to run from June 2-8. Make it May 30 to June 8 if Auburn stays the whole time after arriving Monday.

Myers said the Tigers know what to expect after playing four games there last year.

"The difference between last year's team and this year's team is experience," Myers said. "We know what to expect. It's not going to be the first time. They're not going to be as in awe.

"The experience is huge. It's going to help us at the College World Series this year."


Myers thanked the fans who sent off the Tigers with cheers Monday after a weekend, and a season, in which he said they made a difference.

They've been awesome all year long," he said. "Look at the heat. We had the biggest crowd of the year.

"These fans mean so much to the girls because of their support. They feed off that energy. They don't want to let them down. They're going to lay their hearts out for a lot of different reasons and the fans are one of them."

Charles Goldberg is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @AUGoldMine