June 1, 2018
By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. ââ'¬" When the ball jumped off Dylan Busby's bat in the ninth inning of last year's Tallahassee Regional, Auburn right fielder Jay Estes thought Jonah Todd was going to catch it. The senior had made spectacular catches in centerfield all season.
"I was telling him where the wall was," Estes said. "I saw he kind of had to jump up a little for it. There was that time where you thought he was going to catch it, and you didn't think (he was). There was a lot going through your head at that point."
As it turned out, the ball missed Todd's outstretched glove by mere inches as it landed at the base of the wall for an RBI-triple that tied the game. Florida State won the game in the bottom of the 10th and beat Auburn again the next day, preventing the Tigers from advancing to a Super Regional for the first time since 1999.
Busby's triple came on a 3-2 count, which meant Auburn was one strike from winning the Regional and moving one step closer to the ultimate goal ââ'¬" the College World Series.
"I think we're very motivated from how last year ended," pitcher Casey Mize said earlier this week. "I think there's going to be a new focus for us this year. We realized last year that you literally have to be focused for every pitch because one pitch could end it for you like it did last year. So I think there's going to be a different feel to us, and I think that's going to help us."
There are eight seniors on this year's Auburn team who experienced that gut-wrenching loss to Florida State last year. There are a handful of underclassmen, like Mize, who were also witness to what happened in Tallahassee. But this team has a chance to avenge that loss when they play in the Raleigh Regional this weekend.
"That was pretty burned in everybody's brains last year, the way that finished," senior infielder Luke Jarvis said. "We're just very grateful that we have another opportunity to go and write the script a little bit differently this year and hopefully finish it out a little better way."
"I think all the returners know just how close we were last year and how bad it felt that we were that close and didn't get to do it," added Estes. "So I think that this year all the returners will have that chip on their shoulder."
There's also the added motivation that this Auburn team isn't hosting a regional. Many thought with an RPI in the top 15, the Tigers would be playing at Plainsman Park this weekend. Instead, they're traveling to an ACC school for the second consecutive year.
But while last year's regional didn't end the way the Tigers wanted it to, that experience will only help them this year in Raleigh.
"I think that could be the difference for us," Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. "I think that's the biggest point of having eight seniors on a ball club that have been right there within a pitch, and now they get to go somewhere else and do this again. I think that could wind up being the difference in this tournament. You can lead all you want to. But leadership within, once they get in the middle of it ââ'¬" in the hotel, on the field ââ'¬" I hope that makes a difference this week."
Auburn will begin play Friday at 1 p.m. CT against Northeastern.
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf