For the second time in four seasons, the Auburn Tigers are headed to Omaha after an upset victory over the number three overall seed Oregon State Beavers in three games on the road in Corvallis.
After winning the first game of the best-of-three battle on Saturday 7-5, the Tigers faced who is seen by many as the premier pitching talent in college baseball, Cooper Hjerpe, on Sunday. Hjerpe went 5.2 IP and gave up three runs on three hits in a 4-3 victory for the Beavers. Hjerpe’s performance, which kept star first baseman Sonny DiChiara hitless as well, was enough to force a decisive third game on Monday night.
Oregon State put on another pitching clinic on Monday night, even outhitting the Tigers 8-3, but it was not enough as Auburn was able to make the most of their opportunities and squeak by 4-3. DiChiara got the scoring started in the third inning with his second home run of the super regional, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead that they were able to hold on to the rest of the night and ultimately win 4-3.
High and deep! đź’Ł@SonnyDichiara slugs his 22nd to get us started!
đź’» https://t.co/uSHvwQBvto pic.twitter.com/kuewOkoGLw
— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) June 14, 2022
Now, Auburn will turn their focus to the red hot Ole Miss Rebels, who they face on Saturday in the first round of the double elimination format. Ole Miss arrives in Omaha via two beatdowns of Southern Miss in Hattiesburg where they did not allow a run.
In the midst of an extremely disappointing season where there were even whispers of head coach Mike Bianco being on the hot seat for Ole Miss, the Rebels got hot at the right time, snuck into the NCAA Tournament, and rode a hot streak all the way to Omaha.
In a College World Series where half of the teams in Omaha are representing the Southeastern Conference, Ole Miss against Auburn will be the first all SEC matchup, with Arkansas facing Stanford on Saturday and Texas A&M facing Oklahoma on Friday. Undoubtedly, college baseball fans are in for quite a start to this College World Series this weekend in Omaha.
