AUBURN, Ala. – It was the bottom of the ninth inning in a winner-take-all game between Auburn and North Carolina. Leading 14-7, the Tigers were one out from punching their ticket to the College World Series.
Auburn's play-by-play announcer, Andy Burcham, sat by himself in the visitor's radio booth knowing that on the next pitch he might make a call that would be remembered on the Plains forever.
"Here's the 1-2 pitch. Line drive to Woley! The ball game is over! Two years ago the season ended in Tallahassee, last year in Gainesville, this year the season will end in Omaha, Nebraska! A dog pile in Chapel Hill! Auburn 14, North Carolina 7. The Tigers are headed to the College World Series!"
Burcham later admitted that the idea of using where the past two seasons had ended didn't come to him until the eighth inning. He could have come up with it earlier seeing as Auburn jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first inning, but he remained intent on respecting the game and respecting the broadcast.
There was a short pause on air, and then Burcham continued…
"For you Rod Bramblett, for you Paula Bramblett, Auburn is going to Omaha."
"I knew I wanted to incorporate Rod and Paula into it at some point," Burcham said. "How that happened? It just came to me. It was a way to end that part of the broadcast, kind of wrap up the final call so to speak and then get on to the postgame show."
It wasn't until Burcham signed off and passed it over to his broadcast partner Paul Ellen, who was down on the field to do interviews, that the tears came.
They were tears of joy because the Auburn baseball team was returning to the College World Series for the first time since 1997. It would be Burcham's first trip back since 1997 as well. But they were also tears of sadness because Rod Bramblett, his best friend and broadcast partner for 25 years, wasn't there to share the moment with him.
"If you've heard that call, it is amazing," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. "But I can imagine when that microphone cuts off and him sitting in that chair and just crying for a minute. What a void.
"You feel like so much is settled, and now honestly the focus is with Andy. We're taking him with us. Hopefully our baseball team is a blessing for him in this time. There's so many people hurting, but right at the top of that list is Andy Burcham because he's missing his sidekick."
Burcham has called two NCAA women's Final Fours. He traveled with Auburn football in 2011 and 2014 when the Tigers played in the BCS National Championship game. But that first trip to Omaha in 1997 for the College World Series will always be a special memory.
At the time, for a 36-year-old Burcham, it was the highlight of his sportscasting career.
"I've still got some pictures of Rod and I," he said. "We kind of snuck on the field either the day before or early before Auburn's first game just to get a couple pictures. For me, it was a tourist experience. I was going to experience all I could in my first trip."
Memories of that first trip included a road trip that started at a nearby casino – it was Bramblett's first time in a casino – and took them all the way to South Dakota to the Gateway Computer factory. Then there was a meal at the steak restaurant that was better known for its portabella mushrooms. And of course, there was plenty of baseball too, whether it was calling games or watching them as fans.
Back then, Burcham never dreamed that it would take 22 years for Auburn to get back to Omaha. And had you asked him a month ago if this team would be the one to make it, he probably would have thought you were crazy. Before the season? Sure. This team had the talent. But between injuries and players struggling, it didn't seem feasible heading into the postseason.
Then came the comeback win against Coastal Carolina in the first game of the Atlanta Regional followed by the miraculous walk-off home run from Steven Williams to beat No. 3 Georgia Tech, which was eerily similar to the home run David Ross hit to beat Florida State in 1997.
The next day, Auburn beat Georgia Tech again and clinched its spot in the Super Regionals. It was clear that something bigger was taking place. Something bigger than baseball.
"I don't think there's any question about that," Burcham said. "I wasn't there (for the walk-off). I was watching it and listening to Paul and Brit (Bowen), and how do you not say there is something else going on? Something bigger?
"And I think these guys, to a certain degree, understand the loss of Rod. He's been the radio voice for Auburn for quite some time, and he's been the baseball voice longer than they've been alive. I think they understand that. The staff certainly understands that, and I think they've communicated with that with those players."
"(With) Rod and Paula, we've got a couple of angels up in Heaven that are looking down on us and doing some things, maybe pulling some strings for us up there," added Tim Hudson, a member of the 1997 team.
The following weekend, with Burcham back in the booth calling the games, the Tigers took two of three from a North Carolina team that had never lost a Regional or Super Regional at home. Their dream turned into reality. Through all the adversity they had faced, this team was going to the College World Series.
"Our players are going to do something, even if they play in the big leagues for 10 years, they'll remember going to Omaha being as special as anything they would ever do in the big leagues," Thompson said. "It's a priceless feeling."
That feeling is the same feeling the 1997 team experienced when they went to Omaha. And like that 1997 team, this 2019 team will forever be remembered at Auburn. They're now part of an elite club.
However, unlike in 1997, the radio crew will be missing a key member on this trip.
"It's exciting for the guys, but at the same time, it's bittersweet," Hudson said. "It really is bittersweet just because you know how much Rod loved this Auburn baseball program and Auburn sports in general. For him to not be here, it's definitely heartbreaking on a lot of levels. But at the same time, it's exciting to know that you're able to do something that he would've loved so much to be a part of."
And who better to carry on his legacy in Omaha this week than Burcham.
"What this team has done is amazing to me," Burcham said. "I'll never forget these last couple weeks and what this team has done. That makes this even more special to me."