AUBURN, Ala. – After each Auburn victory this season, senior captain Brody Moore hands out Top Gun hats to deserving teammates.
Moore earned the ballcap Saturday going 5-for-5 with five RBI to lead the No. 14 Tigers to a 21-7 victory over Florida State at sold-out Plainsman Park, advancing the Tigers to Sunday's regional final.
"I usually give them out, but I think Sonny [DiChiara] gave it to me tonight," said Moore, who also drew two walks to become the first player in program history to reach base seven times in a game. "Joseph [Gonzalez] got the other one. This guy's really fun to play behind."
For the second straight night, Auburn hitters unloaded, scoring in all but two innings while belting 19 hits, including three doubles from Kason Howell. The Tigers also benefited from 16 FSU walks and four Seminole errors.
"Another positive night for us," Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. "A great pitching performance by Joseph. We played amazing team offense and played together for these two nights, so we at least give ourselves an opportunity to play for a regional championship."
Auburn, the visiting team, struck first in the top of the second when Moore drew a leadoff walk, advanced to third on Howell's double off the top of the left-field wall, and scored and Mike Bello's sacrifice fly for a 1-0 Tigers lead.
The Tigers extended their lead in the third when DiChiara reached on an error when FSU's second baseman dropped a popup and scored when Brooks Carlson smashed a two-run home run over the Green Monster to put Auburn ahead 3-0.
Florida State got on the board in the bottom of the third on a leadoff walk and an RBI double, but Gonzalez escaped without further damage thanks to a caught stealing and an inning-ending double play.
Auburn exploded for seven runs before FSU recorded an out in the fourth inning. Bello singled up the middle and scored on Cole Foster's double to chase Florida State starter Bryce Hubbart, who fell to 8-3 with the loss.
Blake Rambusch scored on a fielding error by FSU's shortstop. Carlson singled to right, scoring DiChiara and Foster when the ball rolled under the right fielder's glove. Moore followed with a single up the middle to bring home Carlson and Bobby Peirce, then scored on Howell's third double to put Auburn ahead 10-1.
The Tigers scored in their fourth consecutive inning to take a 10-run lead in the fifth when Moore tripled off the wall in right-center to plate DiChiara, who scored five runs in the game and went 3-for-5 to raise his average to .389.
Auburn added four more in the seventh when Moore's fourth straight hit scored DiChiara, who led off with a single. Nate LaRue drew a bases loaded walk to score Carlson, Moore scored on Bello's fielder's choice and Howell came home when Foster was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for a 15-1 Auburn advantage.
Moore doubled in Peirce in the eighth to give Auburn a 16-4 lead.
"Those games are fun when everybody's linking it up out there," Moore said. "It really helps us when we have a pitcher like Joseph out there getting outs."
Florida State scored three runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth, but the Tigers still outscored FSU 10-6 over the final three frames.
DiChiara and Cam Hill added exclamation points to the evening, smashing home runs in the ninth, No. 20 for Sonny and the first for Hill. DiChiara became the first Tiger to homer in four consecutive games since Joseph Sanders in 2008, and the eighth player in program history to homer 20 times in a season.
Bryson Ware tripled in two more to conclude the scoring in a result reminiscent of a football game.
Gonzalez allowed three runs in six innings, striking out three while allowing four hits and issuing four walks, improving to 7-2. The sophomore exited to a standing ovation after allowing the first two runners to reach in the seventh.
Carson Swilling relieved Gonzalez and sandwiched a pair of strikeouts between a three-run homer that made the score 15-4. John Armstrong recorded the final six outs.
After winning its eighth straight NCAA regional game, Auburn (39-19) advances to the championship round Sunday at 6 p.m. CT vs. the winner of the 1 p.m. CT elimination game between Florida State and UCLA.
"It's another level," Thompson said of the raucous Plainsman Park atmosphere. "There's an engagement and interaction now. There's an electricity in the park. This is closer to how we act at our basketball and football games. The fans are part of this now. It's awesome."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
No. 14 Auburn beats Florida State 21-7, advances to regional final
