What to Watch For: Auburn, Ole Miss set for College World Series showdown

On3 imageby:Justin Hokanson06/18/22

_JHokanson

The last time Auburn made the College World Series in 2019, it came after a 22-year wait.

The wait for another appearance was much shorter this time around.

No. 14 Auburn (42-20) makes its sixth College World Series appearance, including its second in the last three seasons, opening play against Ole Miss (37-22) Saturday at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

“They’ve been challenged with low expectations, and it just drove them even more to this point,” head coach Butch Thompson said. We’re walking in here thinking we’re not done yet. That’s a great feeling for a baseball team.

“We hope the best is yet to come this week, but we’re sure thankful to be here. This is the pinnacle for us and for college baseball. I’m glad the Auburn Tigers are part of this session.”

A big moment for Auburn baseball

Ole Miss enters this game as arguably the hottest team in college baseball. They haven’t lost during the postseason. They beat Arizona twice, and Miami once in the Coral Gables Regional, including scoring 22 runs against Arizona in the Regional Final. Then, they traveled to national seed Southern Mississippi and threw two-straight shutouts in route to a Super Regional championship. The Rebels are rolling.

They also enter with the confidence of beating Auburn two of three at Plainsman Park in March, including scoring 13 and 15 runs in the two wins. Having said all that, Auburn enters with the same level of confidence. The Tigers are 5-1, and are fresh off taking two of three at No. 3-seed Oregon State to earn a Super Regional championship.

This is a matchup of two teams that are extremely hungry for Omaha success.

Considering Gonzalez is Auburn’s best and most reliable starter, there is all kinds of pressure on this first game. Thompson and this staff aren’t messing around. They know the importance of starting this tournament off 1-0. It’s time to go all out.

Side note that might make little difference, but is fun to note: Auburn is 12-5 in Saturday games this season, and 26-9 in night games where first pitch is after 6 p.m. CT.

The last time Auburn baseball won a College World Series game was 1997. After falling to Stanford in game one, Tim Hudson and the Tigers defeated Rice, 10-1, in the second game. Unfortunately for Auburn, they lost to Stanford again in game three and were eliminated from the CWS.

Auburn’s all-time record at the College World Series is 3-10. During the Tigers’ last appearance in 2019, a one-run loss to Mississippi State and two-run loss to Louisville sent Auburn packing after two games.

Thompson hasn’t hesitated in recent weeks to place high expectations on this Auburn baseball team. We’ve heard Thompson say “national championship or bust.” Is Auburn the best baseball team in Omaha? The prognosticators would say no. In fact, D1Baseball made their expert predictions this week and seven of the eight teams received votes to win their bracket. The one team that didn’t receive any votes to win their bracket? Auburn.

None of that matters, of course. Thompson didn’t set high expectations necessarily because he thinks Auburn is the most talented baseball team in America. That wasn’t his motivation. The reason for the high bar is because Thompson believes it’s time for his program to take the next step.

Regional championships? Check. Super Regional championships? Check. College World Series appearances? Check. Winning a conference title, whether regular season or tournament, and winning games in Omaha is next on the list. The conference banners will have to wait another season, but winning games in Omaha can happen right now.

That’s what this tournament is about for Auburn.

“It’s everything everybody dreams of,” Auburn All-American Sonny DiChiara said. “We’re so excited and we worked so hard to get here. We’re not done.”

The pitching matchup

So. RHP Joseph Gonzalez (7-3, 2.95) vs. Jr. RHP Dylan DeLucia (6-2, 4.35)

“Our starter will be Joseph Gonzalez. He was out that first portion of the year and he didn’t pitch against Ole Miss. He’s been throwing in that three hole, but we moved him to the two spot, and then the one spot. Arguably, he’s our best starter. We’re excited to let Joseph start us off here,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said.

Gonzalez didn’t pitch against Ole Miss during the March conference series.

DeLucia pitched in relief against Auburn in game one of the series. He threw 3.1 innings, allowing six hits, two earned runs, and striking out five. DeLucia earned the win in a 13-6 win for Ole Miss. Auburn committed five errors that night.

Joseph Gonzalez will take the mound against Ole Miss in the opener.

Auburn quick hitters

Auburn is one of six programs to appear in two of the last three College World Series, joining Arkansas, Mississippi State, Stanford, Texas and Vanderbilt on the short list.

Butch Thompson is one of five active SEC coaches who have taken their program to a pair of College World Series in a three-season span, joining Tim Corbin (Vanderbilt), Chris Lemonis (Mississippi State), Kevin O’Sullivan (Florida) and Dave Van Horn (Arkansas).

To get here, the Tigers became the first team to defeat Oregon State in a home super regional.

In 2019, Auburn became the first program to defeat North Carolina in Chapel Hill Super Regional and is the only program to win two road super regionals in the last three tournaments.

After hitting .209 and scoring 11 runs in the four games leading up to the tournament, Auburn is hitting .303 and has scored 65 runs 67 hits in six NCAA Tournament games.

The Tigers outscored Southeastern, Florida State and UCLA 51-18 in three games in the Auburn Regional, marking the most runs by a SEC team in the first three games of a regional.

Sonny DiChiara is one home run shy of matching the program record (23) set by fellow SEC Player of the Year Hunter Morris in 2010.

Blake Burkhalter’s 15 saves are second in the country and second in single-season history.

Ole Miss quick hitters

Ole Miss enters the College World Series with a 37-22 overall record and a 5-0 mark in the NCAA Tournament.

The Rebels won eight of their last 10 regular season games and have outscored opponents 46-11 in five postseason games.

Offensively, the Rebels are hitting .279 and are led by Kevin Graham’s .331 clip. Tim Elko leads the way in offensive production with 22 home runs and 71 RBI.

The pitching staff has turned in a 4.44 ERA with 618 strikeouts in 510.1 innings. Saturday starter Dylan DeLucia leads the team in wins (6), innings (78.2) and is second in strikeouts (88).

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