CORVALLIS, Ore. – Coming off its third regional title in the last four seasons, No. 14 Auburn (40-19) is set to take on No. 3 Oregon State (47-16) in a best-of-three super regional in Corvallis, Oregon.
Next Games:
at No. 3 Oregon State
June 11-13, 2022
9 p.m. CT | 9 p.m. | TBD
Radio: Auburn Sports Network
With a trip to the College World Series on the line, first pitches against the Beavers at Goss Stadium are set for Saturday and Sunday at 9 p.m. CT and an if necessary game Monday at a time to be determined.
"Most of our talks will be about doubling down on our identity, who we are," head coach Butch Thompson said. "We can't play better than we did last weekend. The biggest challenge for us is trying to maintain and stay there.
"The score will take care of itself, and this will come down to execution, whether we're playing at Plainsman Park or a 41-hour drive away, this thing will come down to execution."
The games will be broadcast on the Auburn Sports Network and can be heard locally on 93.9 FM and will also be broadcast on Sirius XM channel 374. Saturday and Sunday's games will air nationally on ESPN2.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Saturday – Jr. RHP Trace Bright (4-4, 4.80) vs. So. LHP Cooper Hjerpe (10-2, 2.40)
Sunday – So. RHP Joseph Gonzalez (7-2, 2.90) vs. Jr. RHP Jake Pfennigs (4-0, 2.94)
Monday – Jr. RHP Mason Barnett (3-2, 4.13) vs. Fr. RHP Jacob Kmatz (8-2, 4.19)
QUICK HITTERS
This weekend marks Auburn's third super regional in the last four seasons (2018, 2019, 2022).
The Tigers are one of 10 teams to advance to at least three super regionals since 2018, joining Arkansas (4), East Carolina, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Stanford, Texas, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt on the list.
Auburn wrapped up last weekend with a nine-game regional win streak in which it has outscored opponents 117-43.
The Tigers outscored Southeastern, Florida State and UCLA 51-18 in three games last weekend, marking the most runs by a SEC team in the first three games of a regional.
The team led all 64 NCAA Tournament teams in runs per game (17.0) and run differential per game (11.0) during regional play.
The offense hit .395 while starting pitchers went 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA in the Auburn Regional.
Auburn is 3-5 all-time in super regional play, including 3-3 under head coach Butch Thompson.
The Tigers were the last team eliminated from the super regional round in Gainesville in 2018 and turned around to win the first super regional championship in Chapel Hill in 2019.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Oregon State enters the weekend with a 47-16 overall record and went 20-10 in Pac-12 play to finish second in the league standings.
The Beavers defeated Vanderbilt 7-6 in a winner-take-all game seven in the Corvallis Regional Monday afternoon.
Offensively, Oregon State is hitting .298 as a team and is led in many categories by Pac-12 Player of the Year Jacob Melton, who has turned in a .360 average with 21 doubles, 16 homers and 81 RBI.
On the mound, the Beavers have turned in a 4.19 staff ERA and are led by Golden Spikes Award finalist Cooper Hjerpe, who is 10-2 with a 2.40 ERA and has struck out 155 in 97.2 innings.
CORVALLIS SUPER REGIONAL CENTRAL
All of the information surrounding the Corvallis Super Regional can be found here.