May 30, 2017
By Will Sahlie
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. - For the 20th time in program history, Auburn is headed to the NCAA Tournament.
"In my 15 years in the Southeastern Conference as a coach, I think this was the toughest field to make," Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. "It felt really good to see Auburn University come up on that screen."
After finishing the season 35-24 and 16-14 in the SEC, the Tigers earned their second bid to the field of 64 since 2010.
Auburn earned a No. 4 national ranking in May before a seven-game losing streak put the Tigers on the bubble for an at-large bid. A series victory and SEC Tournament win over Ole Miss secured the NCAA bid.
"That was a tough grind for us for two weeks, but at the end of the day, this program had a strength of schedule of 30, 20 new players, probably got banged up a little bit, we won 11 out of 14 weekend series including 7 out of 10 in the Southeastern Conference," Thompson said. "To be one of our eight SEC teams to play in the best conference in America, to have the highs, to get punched in the mouth, to hear your name called on Selection Monday, is a very big deal."
Auburn, the No. 3 seed in the Tallahassee Regional, will play No. 2 seed UCF Friday at 11 a.m. CT. Top-seeded Florida State will play No. 4 seed Tennessee Tech at 5 p.m.
"All three teams outside of us have won 40-plus games," Thompson said about the regional field. "First-year coach (Greg) Lovelady for Central Florida. They were like last in their league last year, for what he's done in a year's time is amazing. Florida State is a model of consistency for college baseball and has been for decades. They're one of the hottest teams in America. (Tennessee Tech head coach) Matt Bragga, he and I were two assistants at Birmingham Southern when we won the 2001 NAIA national championship. He's a great man. Offense, all his brain thinks about is hitting, hitting, hitting. I think they won their regular season and their conference tournament in the OVC.
"An unbelievable field. You've got to go on the road be road warriors, but if you make it to the College World Series, every team has to win on the road, as well. It's time to go play ball."
Auburn will travel to Tallahassee for the ninth time in its postseason history. Since 1999 when the NCAA went from a six-team to a four-team regional format, Auburn has been selected to five out-of-town regionals. Tallahassee has been the destination four times.
"This program has been to Tallahassee a few times before, several times. This will be a new experience for me as a head coach," Thompson said." I've been there as an assistant in a regional, and they do a great job. Florida State knows how to hold a regional, how to take care of people and respect fan bases that come in there. This will be a great opportunity for us this week."
The selection committee awarded Auburn one of the final four at-large bids, a fact not lost on the Tigers.
"We were the underdogs from day one, and I hope we keep that same mindset that we are the underdogs because it has worked out for us," sophomore pitcher Casey Mize said. "I saw that we were one of the last four in, and I love that. I love that we were the underdogs. We were picked last in the SEC. To see what we've done this year has been pretty remarkable. Hopefully we can keep making history."
"We know four teams potentially stand in our way of a College World Series," Thompson said. "We'll go give our best effort starting on Friday."
In his second season, Butch Thompson has led Auburn to the NCAA Tournament." style="width:100%; height:auto;" class="imported_image" legacy-link="http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/aub/sports/m-basebl/auto_a_storywide/12694210.jpeg"> In his second season, Butch Thompson has led Auburn to the NCAA Tournament.