Needing two wins to extend its season, No. 4 Auburn delivered on a long Sunday evening at Plainsman Park, defeating UCF 9-3 and Milwaukee 8-1.
Here is a recap of the day:
Game one: UCF
Despite battling multiple weather delays, No. 4 overall seed Auburn blasted six home runs and used a pair of strong outings from pitchers Alex Petrovic and Ryan Hetlzer to avoid elimination with a 9-3 win over UCF in the first game on Saturday.
Scoring in its final six plate appearances, Auburn's six home runs tied for its second most this season, led by Chase Fralick with a pair in the third and seventh frames.
Eight of Auburn's 10 hits went for extra bases.
After starting three hours late due to inclement weather, the game ended seven hours and 15 minutes after its scheduled start time.
Petrovic gutted out six innings and tossed a career-high 108 pitches, striking out six while allowing a pair of earned runs on five hits before turning things over to Hetzler for the final three frames. The Tigers' closer retired the first seven batters he faced and earned his third save of the season with five strikeouts.
UCF's DeAmez Ross jumped all over the second pitch of the game to put the Knights up by one in the early goings.
The Knights took advantage of an error and a walk in the second and left the second with a two-run cushion.
That's when the Auburn bats came alive.
Mason McCraine started the home run barrage in the third, and Fralick followed one batter later to even things at two apiece.
Ething Bingamin added a run in the fourth with his 15th homer of the season and fourth of the weekend. The solo shot tied an Auburn regional record.
Chris Rembert's 45th RBI of the season plated Mason McCraine in the fifth on a sacrifice fly to give the Tigers a two-run lead. The Tigers settled for one run in the frame after an inning-ending strikeout left two runners in scoring position.
UCF quickly made it a one-run game after Zak Skinner ambushed the first pitch of the sixth to deep center.
A pair of solo shots in the sixth extended Auburn's lead to 6-3. Cade Belyeu knocked his third homer in the last two games, way out in right-center field, before Taylor Belza continued the damage with his second homer of the season.
Fralick drilled his second homer of the game in the seventh, tying Bingaman's regional record with his fourth home run of the weekend to put Auburn up 7-3.
The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the eighth on a Mason McCraine double – his 12th double of the season, which is the second most among SEC freshmen.
Game two: Milwaukee
The Tigers won their third straight elimination contest over Milwaukee 8-1 to force a winner-take-all finale on Monday.
After finishing the final three frames in the first game on Sunday, Hetlzer toed the rubber and delivered a gutsy performance, throwing four innings and striking out six while allowing one earned run on three hits.
Auburn scored five runs on three hits in the second frame. Bingaman led off with a single and scored on Belyeu's double for a 1-0 Auburn lead. Belyeu later scored on Eric Guevara's sacrifice fly. Soon after, Fralick delivered his third home run of the day, a three-run blast that set the program record with five homers in regional play.
After a one-out double and single, Milwaukee scored its first and only run in the third on an RBI groundout.
LJ Cormier made his second appearance of the weekend against the Panthers, but this time he earned his second victory of the season. Retiring the first eight batters he faced, Cormier struck out a career-best eight Panthers in five scoreless innings while allowing only one hit.
The Tigers mustered three runs without a hit in the top of the sixth, capitalizing on a walk, three hit batters, a wild pitch and Guevara's second sacrifice fly to give them an 8-1 lead.
Auburn and Milwaukee will square off once more on Monday at 5 p.m. with a Super Regional appearance on the line.
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