AUBURN, Ala. – No. 4 Auburn survived and advanced, winning an arduous regional to become one of only two programs in the country to host super regionals in consecutive seasons.
“Excited to be back home,” said Auburn coach Butch Thompson, whose team joins North Carolina as 2025 and 2026 super regional hosts. “A good run by our guys to get our program back to this spot. You know you’re going to have to earn it.”
It’s an all-SEC super, with Auburn (42-20) hosting Ole Miss (39-21) in a best-of-three battle with a College World Series appearance at stake.
“Power legs, power bats, power fastballs, power stuff,” Thompson said of the Rebels. “That’s why you play the 10 weeks. It’s prepared them as well. Last Thursday compared to this Thursday, we have a stronger, more convicted team. There’s no doubt. Going through something like we just did makes you stronger.”
Ten-game winner Andreas Alvarez will start Friday’s 7 p.m. CT super regional opener against the power-hitting Rebels.
“They’re a good offense, they have a lot of power,” Alvarez said. “They do strikeout a lot. They do walk a lot. We’re going to attack them with our best stuff. We’ve faced a lot of the best offenses in the country this year so far so we’re just going to attack them.”
As a true freshman in last season’s super regional, Alvarez pitched 4.0 scoreless innings against Coastal Carolina.
“Having a team beat you on your own field to go to Omaha, that hurt,” said Alvarez, who takes a 10-3 record, 3.52 ERA and 103 strikeouts into Friday’s game. “We’re looking to take the next two out of three and hopefully get to Omaha. Our pitching staff has been special. We’ve proven that all year and we have all the confidence in the world in our staff.”
Alvarez and the Tigers can count on support from Auburn fans, who set a Plainsman Park attendance record of 8,228 in Monday’s regional final and have sold out Samford Stadium for the super regional.
“That was awesome,” third baseman Eric Guevara said. “That was electric from the Auburn family. They showed up and they stayed. Being on the field for that was very special for us and we appreciate that very much.”
All three games will be broadcast on the Auburn Sports Network and can be heard locally on Wings 94.3 FM on nationally on SiriusXM 191. Friday’s game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 and Saturday’s on ESPN.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday – So. RHP Andreas Alvarez (10-3, 3.52) vs. Sr. LHP Hunter Elliott (5-3, 5.21)
QUICK HITTERS
Auburn is one of two programs to host a super regional each of the last two years (UNC).
Prior to last season the program had never hosted a super regional.
The Tigers are one of five programs to play in five super regionals since 2018 - Auburn, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
Auburn led the NCAA with 16 home runs in regional play, a program record.
The Tigers also ranked third with 50 runs and fifth with 50 hits.
Chase Fralick set a program record with six home runs and 15 RBI in five regional games.
He homered more times than 35 teams that made the field and drove in more runs than 21 teams scored in regional play.
The Tigers allowed 26 runs in the first two games before allowing seven in the final three.
Five pitchers combined to record the final 81 outs, all occuring from 5 pm Sunday - 11 pm Monday.
The regional championship marked Auburn’s first when losing the opening game.
It marked the fifth under head coach Butch Thompson, two more than any other Auburn head coach.
SCOUTING THE REBELS
Ole Miss enters the super regional with a 39-21 overall record and went 15-15 in SEC play. The Rebels swept through the Lincoln Regional, defeating Arizona State in extra innings by one run twice and also defeating host Nebraska.
Offensively, the Rebels are hitting .265 as a team with 411 runs scored on 519 hits, including 86 doubles and 103 home runs. Two players in Tristan Bissetta (22) and Judd Utermark (21) have 20+ home runs.
On the mound, Ole Miss has turned in a 4.40 staff ERA, good for fifth in the league, with a league-best 672 strikeouts and 201 walks in 524.0 innings pitched. Senior lefty Hunter Elliott (5-3, 5.21) will make the start in game one after allowing four runs on six hits with four walks and four strikeouts in 5.0 innings last week.
AUBURN SUPER REGIONAL CENTRAL
The all-encompassing Auburn Super Regional Central page, including opponent and game info, links to tickets, ballpark policies and more, can be found here.
EXPANDED SEATING AT PLAINSMAN PARK
In order to expand Plainsman Park capacity to enable as many fans as possible to watch the Auburn Regional, three expanded seating options that were introduced prior to the regional are back for super regional weekend.
Atop the YETI Yard will be a new multi-tiered terrace featuring 320 reserved chairback seats with a general admission standing terrace above, designed to accommodate approximately 200 additional fans. Additionally, chairs will be pre-placed throughout the YETI Yard terrace to maximize seating capacity, providing general admission seating opportunities for approximately 800 fans on a first-come, first-served basis.
In addition to the normal general admission tables and chairs, the Plainsman Patio will also feature a five-tiered structure with 48 reserved chairback seats, including access to the new Donahue Club, located next to the Donaldson Hitting Lab. Atop the reserved seating structure will be two tiers of general admission standing terrace, available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Back Forty located in right field has also been expanded with three additional standing terraces, providing general admission access for approximately 1,000 students and fans. Outfield general admission tickets are discounted and do not provide ballpark access.
PLAINSMAN PLAZA
Plainsman Plaza is back for postseason at Plainsman Park. The plaza will open beginning Friday and will be open throughout the weekend. The space will feature food trucks, inflatables, live music, a large video screen and more.
Plainsman Plaza will open two hours prior to first pitch through the weekend - Friday at 5 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday, if necessary. In order to prepare for the pregame festivities, Donahue Drive from Samford Avenue to Heisman Drive will close at 3 p.m. Friday.
TICKET INFORMATION
All reserved and general admission tickets for the super regional are sold out. Fans interested in purchasing tickets are encouraged to do so through SeatGeek.
PARKING INFORMATION
Parking passes for the Neville Arena, Coliseum and Athletics Complex lots are available for purchase at AUBTIX.com.
Free parking lots on campus include Ag Heritage, Aquatics Center, Campus Safety, Extension Loop and McWhorter Center along with the Stadium Deck.
A digital parking map can be found at the Auburn Super Regional Central page linked above.