AUBURN, Ala. – So you’re telling me there’s a Chase.
Facing elimination in four consecutive games, Auburn never blinked. Tournament MVP Chase Fralick hit a tie-breaking home run to lead No. 4 Auburn to an 8-3 victory over Milwaukee Monday in front of the largest crowd in Plainsman Park history, sending the Tigers to their second straight home super regional.
“The whole team was locked in,” Fralick said. “Everybody performed the way they needed to.”
“This was the hardest, most rewarding thing that we’ve been through for me personally,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “They found a way. Chase was just amazing, both offensively and defensively. I give the players a ton of credit. They laid it on the line for us and were tremendous.”
With the score tied 2-2, Fralick led off the bottom of the sixth with a home run to center field, his sixth regional homer and 15th tournament RBI, both program records.
“I was looking for a fastball out over the plate,” Fralick said. “He’s been throwing a lot of them to left-handed hitters. I got one I could handle and put a good swing on it. When I’m trying not to hit homers and trying to stay with my approach is when it happens. I’m going to keep the same approach and hopefully it rolls into next week.”
Homering in five consecutive games for the second time this season, Fralick becomes the 10th player and first catcher in program history to hit 20 home runs in a season.
“As good as I’ve ever seen,” Thompson said of Fralick. “Being able to handle the moment. A complete player. Chase Fralick will play the game for a very long time.”
Fralick’s long ball sparked a five-run inning, in which Auburn hit for the cycle with Taylor Belza’s single, Bub Terrell’s double and Mason McCraine’s triple.
Historically, only 7 percent of NCAA regional winners have lost their opener before winning four straight games to advance in the NCAA Tournament.
“We had to have some things work and we had to have some guys do some extraordinary things,” Thompson said. “Fralick, the pitching the last two days. All of that had to fall in place to even make this possible.”
Auburn starting pitcher Jake Marciano struck out six, allowing two earned runs in 4.0 innings.
Jackson Sanders (5-1) relieved Marciano to start the fifth inning, taking the Tigers to the finish line by striking out eight while allowing only three hits and one run in 5.0 innings.
“I take it inning by inning, almost act like I’m closing each inning,” Sanders said. "Trying to shut them down one hitter at a time, leadoff hitter out every inning and get ahead of people.”
Milwaukee’s Charlie Marion hit a solo home run in the top of the eighth inning to trim the Tigers’ lead to 7-3.
On his 60th pitch, Sanders struck out Bradyn Horn on a 95-mph fastball to end the eighth inning.
Auburn reclaimed a five-run lead in the bottom of the eighth on a wild pitch with the bases loaded.
Sanders ended the game with his eighth strikeout on pitch No. 71, fanning Christian Holmes to set off a raucous celebration on the field and in the stands.
Plainsman Park After Dark did its part for the second straight night, with 8,228 boisterous fans cheering atop War Eagle Wall, Yeti Yard and around the concourse, students packing the Back Forty Deck and hundreds more watching from the stadium parking deck.
“This tournament was different,” Thompson said of the crowd support. “There was a connection that I felt like I haven’t seen before. I think the players know that.”
Auburn grabbed early momentum with a run in the bottom of the first inning on three straight hits, with Ethin Bingaman driving in Fralick. The Tigers made it 2-0 in the bottom of the third on Fralick’s RBI groundout.
Milwaukee (27-33) evened the score at 2-2 in the top of the fourth on John Hadley’s two-run home run, setting the stage for Fralick’s heroics two innings later.
Auburn (42-20) will host Ole Miss this weekend in an all-SEC super regional after the Rebels won the NCAA Lincoln Regional. Dates and times will be announced later.
“That’s going to pay dividends at some point for what they had to go through this week,” said Thompson, who won his fifth regional in 10 postseasons as Auburn’s head coach.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer