CORVALLIS, Ore. – No. 14 Auburn brought the potential tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but No. 3 Oregon State held on to beat the Tigers 4-3 Sunday in game two of the Corvallis Super Regional, setting up a decisive third game on Monday.
"I thought the guys were still competing," Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. "Just a great college baseball game. We'll be back tomorrow."
Seeking his third hit of the game, Brooks Carlson hit a sharply hit ball to first base for the first out, then Brody Moore flew out to the warning track before a called third strike ended the game.
The Tigers were within striking distance thanks to a perfect throw home from right fielder Bobby Peirce to nail Matthew Gretler trying to score on Justin Boyd's third hit of the night.
"We fought to keep the game close," Thompson said. "Bobby's got a great arm. He attacked the play."
Auburn catcher Nate LaRue threw out Boyd trying to steal after he led off the game with a single.
"Right out of the game he was tested," Thompson said. "I thought his arm made an impact."
Oregon State, the visiting team in game two, took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth on solo home runs by Jacob Melton and Travis Bazzana. Auburn outfielders Mike Bello and Kason Howell made highlight-reel catches to limit the damage.
"They made great plays," Thompson said. "We've seen it for a majority of the year. We had to hang in there to keep it close."
Auburn answered immediately with three doubles in the bottom of the fourth from Cole Foster, Carlson and Moore.
"Second time through at least we answered," Thompson said. "I thought that was big in the ballgame."
Foster recorded Auburn's first hit of the game off Oregon State ace Cooper Hjerpe, advancing to third on Sonny DiChiara's grounder and scoring on a wild pitch for the Tigers' first run. Carlson doubled with two outs and scored on Moore's two-bagger for a 2-2 tie.
"We made our adjustments," Carlson said. "He had a pretty efficient fastball. We ended up getting a couple runs and trying to battle it out."
Oregon State regained the lead in top of the fifth when Gretler led off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a throwing error.
The Beavers added another run to lead 4-2 in the sixth on Jake Dukart's RBI single that scored Bazzana, who walked, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error.
Auburn trimmed the deficit to 4-3 in the sixth after Peirce drew a two-out walk that ended Hjerpe's night, moved to third on Carlson's single and scored on a wild pitch.
Hjerpe improved to 11-2, striking out six while allowing three runs on three hits.
LaRue's seventh inning single turned out to be Auburn's last hit as Oregon State reliever Ben Ferrer retired the Tigers' last eight hitters to earn his third save.
Joseph Gonzalez (7-3) recorded the loss, striking out five in five innings while allowing two earned runs.
Chase Allsup, Chase Isbell and John Armstrong combined to pitch the final four innings, with Isbell pitching 2.2 scoreless innings and striking out four to keep Auburn close.
With a trip to Omaha on the line, the Tigers and Beavers will square off Monday at 6:30 p.m. CT in game three on ESPN2 and the Auburn Sports Network.
"That's what we signed up for," Carlson said. "This opportunity is what every college baseball player dreams of. If you don't grab it by the throat, you're not supposed to be here. Every single one of us is prepared to play tomorrow and we know that we're not done yet. We're ready to go. We've got one more shot at this thing."
"This has been an exciting two days," Thompson said. "This is what it's supposed to be like. This is what it's supposed to come down to. I know I'm excited to get to come back out here and be able to compete again."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
No. 14 Auburn set for winner-take-all game three at No. 3 Oregon State
