AUBURN, Ala. – By the time Tanner Burns delivered his first pitch in game three of the 2019 Chapel Hill Super Regional, nearly an hour had elapsed since Auburn's starting pitcher had warmed up, a circumstance usually reserved for a rain delay.
Despite a forecast that suggested otherwise, there was no rain in North Carolina on that memorable Monday morning, but there was plenty of thunder and lightning.
Thunder in the form of 18 Auburn hits, lightning in the shape of a 13-run first inning that carried the Tigers to a 14-7 victory, sending Auburn to the College World Series for the first time since 1997.
Gallery: (6-10-2019) Baseball vs UNC
"We had been there so often," said Auburn coach Butch Thompson, looking back a year later. "I thought it was our day. I woke up thankful. The guys were in a good place. They had been so hungry. I just knew that door was barely hanging on and they didn't waste any time running through it.
"I did tell them that this has been a journey for us. This has been a slow build with a lot of heartache, setbacks and daggers to end seasons. The first thought I had was how thankful I was that these coaches and players had worked so hard over a calendar year to get back to a game three of a Super Regional."
Auburn nearly batted around twice in the top of the first inning against four North Carolina pitchers, sending 17 batters to the plate and logging nine hits in a half-inning that lasted 49 minutes, the second-most prolific inning in NCAA Tournament history.
The Tigers led off the game with four straight walks, to Judd Ward, Ryan Bliss, Conor Davis and Steven Williams, which forced in Ward for a 1-0 lead and ended the outing for North Carolina's starting pitcher.
"I'm proud of every player that's ever put on an Auburn uniform."
— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) June 10, 2019
🗣@3strikes_AU on @AUSportsNetwork w/ @PaulEllen1
* mid-interview, watch @rwoley4 give Butch ⚾️ from from final out. pic.twitter.com/hixbpjfpjE
"There's no better person than Coach Thompson."
— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) June 10, 2019
🗣@rwoley4 on giving ⚾️ from final out to @3strikes_AU after @AuburnBaseball 14-7 win sends Tigers to @NCAACWS
"He deserves that more than anybody else on the team." pic.twitter.com/kSrwJFdY6E
"Once he walked the first guy it was pretty easy – we've got to make this guy throw strikes before we ever take the bat off our shoulder again," said assistant coach Gabe Gross, managing the offense from the third base coach's box. "There were a lot of takes given, it was not a hard decision to make."
With a new pitcher came a more aggressive mindset. RBI singles by Edouard Julien, Will Holland and Kason Howell made it 5-0. Ward, batting for the second time in the inning, belted a three-run home run that made it 8-0.
An error, and RBI singles from Rankin Woley, Julien and Matt Scheffler accounted for a seemingly insurmountable 13-0 advantage.
"It wound up being a microcosm of so many different things that I believe in as hitters," Gross said. "You had a big home run by Judd Ward. You had a ton of two-strike hits using the middle and the other way. You had a safety squeeze thrown in the middle of that.
"You had a lot of really good baseball and the discipline to sit there and let that guy walk you around the bases and not be overaggressive. Like the N.C. State Regional the year before, it was just kind of an avalanche where those guys were so hungry for it."
After completing SEC play with a 14-16 conference record, not many outside Plainsman Park expected Auburn to contend for Omaha.
"Some of the teams that do things that are unprecedented or have great finishes don't always have smooth sailing all year," said assistant coach Karl Nonemaker, recalling Thompson's talking point as the Tigers embarked on the postseason. "That message resonated with the players. It certainly resonated with me. We survived the season, we survived one of the toughest schedules in the country, and we're ready to see what happens now. We've earned this opportunity to have a shot."
There were still 27 outs to record. Burns, on a pitch count, blanked the Tar Heels for two innings. Richard Fitts earned the victory, pitching 5.1 innings. Cody Greenhill recorded the final five outs.
Woley, playing first base, caught a sharply hit ball for the last out, presenting the baseball to Thompson for a keepsake. Most of North Carolina's fans had long since departed from a game that lasted 3 hours and 36 minutes, leaving Auburn's supporters to savor this moment with their team.
"I remember looking up and seeing the joy at the end of that game, how much orange and blue is in the stands," Thompson said. "All that's left there in North Carolina is our people. That adds to the moment. If they're not there, it doesn't have the same richness to it. Seeing the looks on people's faces, seeing people there with us and for us.
"It's that connection with our fans and people that love Auburn that enriches it. Knowing that the Auburn family and those fans, when we look up and see them there, it makes it pretty special."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer