Auburn advances to the win-or-go-home regional final, beating Milwaukee 8-1 early Monday morning. The Tigers dominated the Panthers behind a 5-run second inning and 14 combined strikeouts.
There was a noticeable difference between the opening moments of Friday’s game and Sunday’s rematch. Instead of being down 10-0 early and the starter out after only an inning, Auburn put itself on the offensive in the second matchup between these teams.
After the regionals' first scoreless opening inning, Auburn broke the seal early in the second, behind the continued excellent play of Cade Belyeu and Ethin Bingaman. After a Bingaman single that was dropped by the second baseman, Cade Belyeu came through with an RBI double down the right field line to score Bingaman and advance the Tigers 1-0. After a couple of walks and an Eric Guevara sac-fly scoring another runner, one of Auburn’s best hitters of the regional came to the plate. Chase Fralick hit a deep bomb to right field that opened the floodgates to an early 5-0 lead and put Milwaukee in a new position this weekend—behind.
Fralick’s homer wasn’t just lead-opening, but historic, setting a program record of most in a regional with five. After the game, Fralick spoke about the record-setting home run.
Fralick said, “Feels good, just trying to get the teams some W’s, and we’re gonna keep moving on.”
The other side of the plate was just as good for Auburn as Ryan Hetzler carried his momentum from the earlier game. After finishing the last three innings scoreless in the UCF game, Hetzler was able to start four innings of one-run ball and rack up six strikeouts on 67 pitches against Milwaukee.
Then, in the top of the sixth, Auburn did something people rarely see: score three runs without getting a hit. Helped by three hit-by-pitches, Auburn extended the lead to seven without putting the ball on the ground. A wild pitch and sac-fly by Guevara would help cross the second and third run of the inning, a rare instance of Milwaukee hurting itself this regional.
After Hetzler’s strong outing, LJ Cormier continued the dominance late in the game. The freshman closed with five scoreless innings, only allowing one hit from a hot Panther offense and striking out eight hitters. After the game, Hetzler spoke about the pitching staff’s rebound against Milwaukee after a disastrous game one.
“It was huge,” Hetzler said. “ I think it was just a matter of time before our pitching staff clocked in a little bit and reset."
Looking ahead to the final, the Tigers and Panthers will meet up for a third time this regional in a winner-take-all game Monday night. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU at 5:00 p.m. CST
