Auburn earns No. 13 overall national and Regional host, opponents announced

Justin Hokansonby:Justin Hokanson•05/29/23•

_JHokanson

AUBURN — Auburn baseball has earned its second straight and sixth overall NCAA Tournament regional host bid, it was announced on NCAA Baseball social media Sunday night. On Monday, the Tigers learned their national seeding and opponents for their Regional.

The Tigers were selected as the No. 13 overall national seed by the NCAA selection committee. That seeding pairs them with Clemson, No. 4 overall national seed, for the Super Regional, if Clemson wins their Regional. If Auburn wins their Regional and Clemson loses, obviously, Auburn would host a Super Regional.

Auburn AD John Cohen was the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee Chair this season, helping select teams and create national seeding. During any conversations that involved Auburn, Cohen was required to leave the room.

PROGRAM HISTORY: For the first time in the history of the baseball program, Auburn earned a Regional in back-to-back seasons.

  • The program has previously hosted NCAA Regionals in 1978, 1999, 2003, 2010 and 2022.
  • Auburn is 2-3 in Regionals when hosting, winning the 1999 and 2022 Regionals, while losing the 1978, 2003 and 2010 Regionals.
  • The NCAA Tournament appearance will be the program’s 24th all-time, including its fifth in the last six seasons under head coach Butch Thompson.
  • The No. 13 Tigers (34-21-1, 17-13 SEC) will await their tournament seeding and regional opponents, which will be announced during Monday’s selection show beginning at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2.

OPPONENTS ANNOUNCED: Auburn’s three opponents were announced on Monday in 2-seed Southern Miss, 3-seed Samford and 4-seed Penn.

  • Southern Miss finished 41-17 and No 21 in the RPI.
  • Samford finished 36-23 and No. 62 in the RPI.
  • Penn finished 32-14 and No. 116 in the RPI.
  • The Regional will start on Friday afternoon with two games on Friday, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. If necessary, the final game will be played on Monday.

SEC DOMINANCE: The SEC Tournament just set a new attendance record this past week with over 171,288 fans, and eight of the 12 teams fans watched play will host Regionals next weekend.

  • Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, LSU and South Carolina are all hosting Regionals. That’s a new conference record.

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WANT TO ATTEND? Here’s more information on attending the Auburn Regional.

  • Regional tickets will go on sale to the public following the selection show Monday at 12:30 p.m. CT. Information on game times and TV broadcasts will also be announced following the selection show.
  • Season ticket holders still have a last chance opportunity to purchase before tickets go on sale to the general public. This opportunity is good through Monday, May 29 at 8:00 a.m., but original season ticket locations are not guaranteed because the original deadline of May 22 has passed.

RECENT REGIONAL SUCCESS: Both home and away, Auburn has enjoyed recent success in NCAA Regionals.

  • Auburn is 3-0 in their last three Regional appearances with a perfect 9-0 record. The Tigers haven’t lost a Regional game since 2017 when they lost two straight at Florida State to lose the Regional after starting 2-0.
  • In 2018, the Tigers traveled to Raleigh, N.C. for the N.C. State Regional, going 3-0 and winning the Regional before falling in three games to Florida in the Super Regional in Gainesville, Fla.
  • In 2019, the Tigers traveled to Atlanta, Ga. for the Georgia Tech Regional, going 3-0 and winning the Regional. Auburn then traveled to Chapel Hill, N.C. for the North Carolina Super Regional and went 2-1, winning the Super Regional and heading to the College World Series.
  • In 2022, the Tigers hosted a Regional, going 3-0 against Southeastern Louisiana, Florida State and UCLA. Auburn then traveled to Corvallis, Ore. for the Oregon State Super Regional and went 2-1, making it back to the College World Series for the second time in three opportunities. (The 2020 season was cancelled due to Covid.)

THE RESUME: The Tigers finished with a 34-21-1 overall record, 17-13 mark in the SEC regular season. The Tigers went 1-2 in the SEC Tournament, beating Missouri before falling to Vanderbilt and Alabama.

  • Auburn sits at No. 19 in the latest RPI rankings.
  • The Tigers finished 8-10 on the road, 3-2 on a neutral field, and 23-9 at home.
  • Auburn beat then No. 2 South Carolina on the road two of three, then returned home to beat then No. 1 LSU two of three in back-to-back weekends.

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