Hungry, driven and 'not done yet': Auburn looking to play great in Omaha

On3 imageby:Justin Hokanson06/16/22

_JHokanson

Auburn baseball was picked dead last in the SEC West during the preseason predictions.

It wasn’t necessarily crazy. The Tigers were coming off a 28-27 season that saw them miss the postseason entirely. There were questions that needed to be answered.

After finishing fifth this season – in the entire SEC – the Tigers ran through the Regionals and Super Regionals with a 5-1 record, including taking care of 3-seed Oregon State on the road to advance to the College World Series.

RELATED: Everything Butch Thompson said before Auburn departed for the CWS

Auburn has already wildly exceeded external expectations. They hosted a Regional at Plainsman Park for the first time since 2010. They won more regular season games than any team in more than a decade. The accomplishments are many.

Regardless, Butch Thompson and his team certainly haven’t forgotten about those low expectations.

They also haven’t forgotten about the trip to Omaha in 2019, when Auburn went 0-2, losing close games to Mississippi State and Louisville. The stay was short. Thompson and the team are determined to not let that happen again this time around.

“They’ve been challenged with low expectations and that just drove them even more. We’re walking in here thinking we’re not done yet. We are hoping the best is yet to come this week,” Thompson said on Thursday.

Kason Howell was a true freshman on that 2019 team that shocked the college baseball world and made it to the College World Series by defeating national seeds Georgia Tech and North Carolina on the road during the Regionals and Super Regionals.

Howell remembers it taking awhile for members of that team to feel comfortable in actually playing in the College World Series. They were in amazement.

“This time around, our motto of not done yet is sticking with us,” Howell said. “We have a great vision of winning a national championship and bringing that trophy home to this program. This team is so unified, we’re in a good position.”

Thompson was bold with his proclamation during the Regional following Auburn’s 21-7 victory over Florida State. Thompson said postgame that for this Auburn team, it was “national championship or bust.” That surprised many, but Thompson thought it wouldn’t be fair to his team to lower expectations.

Instead, he raised them. And so far, his team has responded.

“This year it’s been, go win a national championship. Just making it here isn’t good enough,” pitcher Carson Skipper said.

Auburn will have to respond again on Saturday night when they face an Ole Miss team that took two of three games at Plainsman Park during the first weekend of conference play. Ole Miss is also fresh off sweeping their Regional and Super Regionals, including shutting out national seed Southern Miss in back-to-back games in Hattiesburg.

But don’t count out what Auburn’s accomplished this postseason. The Tigers scored a conference-record 51 runs in the Auburn Regional, and followed that up by defeating the second-ranked RPI team in the nation in their own house. Now, they’re in Omaha searching for the program’s first national title.

“We’re hungry,” first baseman Sonny DiChiara said. “We’re still really hungry.”

Auburn and Ole Miss play on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. CT at Charles Schwab Field.

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