AUBURN, Ala. – In front of the largest crowd in Plainsman Park history – 7,367 – No. 4 Auburn started fast, and reliever Carson Myers cooled off upset-minded Central Connecticut in the Tigers’ 9-5 victory Friday in the NCAA regional tournament opener.
“Tough ballgame,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “I give a ton of credit to Central Connecticut. They absolutely came out swinging the bats. The offense played good. They battled us. When Carson got in the ballgame, he got better and better each inning, and he was a huge difference. He really pitched great tonight and got the ballgame to one of our captains, Parker Carlson.”
Hosting their third regional in four years, the Tigers batted around in the bottom of the first, loading the bases with one out and taking a 1-0 lead when Lucas Steele’s single to right scored Eric Guevara.
Eric Snow’s infield single brought home Ike Irish for a 2-0 Tigers lead, then Bub Terrell followed with a rocket to right that plated Cooper McMurray and Steele to put Auburn ahead 4-0.
After Auburn starter Cam Tilly pitched around three straight singles in the top of the first, CCSU ended Tilly’s outing in the second with a pair of singles and a pair of walks that cut Auburn’s lead in half and brought Myers into the game. The senior allowed an inherited runner to score but stranded three runners to preserve a one-run lead for Auburn.
The visitors tied the score at 4-4 in the top of the third on a walk and two singles, but the tie was short lived.
Steele quickly regained the lead for Auburn by leading off the bottom of the third with a towering 432-foot home run to right, his ninth of the season.
“I got that pitch, and I guess it was a big momentum change to be able to take the lead and keep that lead throughout the game.” Steele said. “That isn’t the hardest one I’ve hit, but it’s definitely the furthest.”
The Tigers tacked on three more in the inning, taking an 8-4 lead on a throwing error from CCSU’s left fielder after Terrell’s single allowed Snow to score, followed by Chris Rembert’s run-scoring single and Guevara’s RBI groundout.
Auburn increased its lead to 9-4 in the fourth when Snow tripled and scored on Terrell’s sacrifice fly, his third RBI of the game.
Myers (3-2) earned the victory, pitching a season-high 6.0 innings, striking out nine while allowing one earned run. He ended his masterpiece with four straight scoreless innings.
“It’s important to slow the game down,” said Myers, who threw 104 pitches. “Trust your stuff and go out and give your best effort. It’s good to get back out there at home. I just went out there and had fun. I wanted to give every ounce of effort I had and more.”
Carlson relieved Myers in the top of the eighth, allowing a run on back-to-back hits before ending the inning with a double play and a fly to right. He then worked a scoreless ninth.
Steele, Snow, Terrell, Irish and Chase Fralick each had two hits. Terrell led Auburn with three RBI.
Auburn will face Stetson in the winner’s bracket Saturday at 8 p.m. CT, while CCSU plays NC State at 2 p.m. in an elimination game.
“I thought Stetson did everything well,” said Thompson, who watched six innings of Friday’s matinee. “I was impressed with Stetson and their rhythm. They played a really good baseball game today against a really good team.
“I thought we played hard. Once you get to this point, it’s like a whole new start to the season. You must be playing good baseball. You must execute to be able to win and move forward. Nobody we’re going to play has not had success.”
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer