May 28, 2018
By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com
Tickets | NCAA Tournament Bracket | Raleigh Regional Central
AUBURN, Ala. -- For the first time since 2002-03, Auburn is headed to back-to-back NCAA Regionals. A year after nearly winning the Tallahassee Regional, the Tigers saw their name unveiled Monday as the No. 2 seed in the Raleigh Regional in this year's field. It's the program's 21st appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
"We're excited," senior infielder Luke Jarvis said. "We're excited we got the opportunity to play in the postseason. Any time you can get that, the intensity gets kicked up a little bit. Just very excited and fortunate that we get an opportunity."
"It's nice to see the field revealed," added head coach Butch Thompson. "No clue what was going to take place or where we would go. So now that that's been revealed, it's time to just get to work and prepare for this weekend."
Auburn will open play Friday at 1 p.m. CT against a Northeastern team that it took two of three games from in a series earlier this year. It was the first time the two programs had met on the diamond, and in the first of those three games at Plainsman Park, senior Casey Mize threw a no-hitter to lead the Tigers to a 6-0 victory.
The four-team regional also includes host North Carolina State, the No. 16 overall seed in the tournament, and Army, the automatic qualifier from the Patriot League.
Coming off its best SEC tournament showing since 2003, Auburn finished with a 39-21 overall record, including a 15-15 mark in a conference that saw a record 10 teams make the NCAA field on Monday. The team's 39 wins are the most since 2010 and the fourth most since the turn of the century.
"I'm very confident," Mize said. "I know what we can do. I've seen it. I know when we play our best, we're one of the best teams in the country. I don't think many would disagree with that. I think we just have to go put it all together and execute well."
Here's a look at Auburn's opponents in the regional.
N.C. State
Record: 40-16, 19-11 ACC
RPI: 20
All-time series: 1-1
Northeastern
Record: 36-19, 17-6 CAA
RPI: 35
All-time series: Auburn, 2-1
Army
Record: 35-22, 18-7 Patriot League
RPI: 83
All-time series: Auburn, 1-0
Ticket info: Regional Tournament Books will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday at 5 p.m. Single session tickets will go on sale Friday at 8 a.m.
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf