Facing elimination, No. 4 overall seed Auburn appeared to be in control multiple times Saturday, but N.C. State repeatedly answered before the Tigers escaped with a 17-13 victory at Plainsman Park.
Auburn built a 10-run lead twice, entering the bottom of the second and sixth frames, but the Wolfpack responded with seven straight runs in the second and third innings and six across the sixth and seventh frames to give the Tigers a scare in a loser-goes-home regional tilt.
With 30 combined runs, it marked the 10th time ever that there have been 30-plus runs in an 0-1 regional game.
Auburn finished with 17 hits to NC State’s 14 and hit five home runs, scoring multiple runs in every inning in which it crossed the plate. Every player in the Tigers’ lineup scored at least one run, and all but one recorded a hit.
Auburn starter Andreas Alvarez earned his 10th win of the season, giving up nine runs (four earned) on eight hits.
The Tigers used an eight-run top of the first – Auburn was the visiting team – to build an early lead. The eight runs marked their second-most in an opening frame this season.
Mason McCraine jump-started the day with a single to right before moving into scoring position on a wild pitch. Eric Guevara drew a walk to put a pair aboard before Chase Fralick launched his second homer of the weekend over the War Eagle Wall in left to make it 3-0. Chris Rembert followed with a bunt single that turned into extra bases after an errant throw, then moved to third on a wild pitch before Bub Terrell recorded an RBI groundout.
Ethin Bingaman added to the surge with his second homer of the weekend over the wall in left center. A single and a hit-by-pitch gave way to Taylor Belza, who delivered his third hit of the weekend with an RBI single. Another RBI single from McCraine made it 7-0 before Fralick capped the scoring off with his fourth RBI of the frame.
Auburn added two more runs in the second after Cade Belyeu deposited his second homer of the year over the wall in right-center, giving it a 10-0 lead.
The Wolfpack scored a pair in the bottom half of the frame on an RBI single through the middle from Dalton Bargo and an RBI groundout to first.
Auburn went down in order after N.C. State turned its 31st double play of the season to end the Tigers’ third.
The Wolfpack then sent nine to the plate, scoring five runs (all unearned) in the bottom of the third. With a runner on first and one out, a grounder to first looked like it would result in an inning-ending double play. However, Ethin Bingaman’s throw wound up in left field and allowed the Wolfpack to plate a run. A sacrifice fly scored another, and one more fielding error at shortstop gave way to one more. Dalton Bargo then stepped in the box and drove a two-run shot out of the ballpark in right-center field, cutting the Tigers’ lead to three.
Knowing it needed more offense after a disastrous bottom half of the third, Bingaman added to Auburn’s lead with his second homer of the day and 14th of the season – this time a two-run shot over the wall in right-center field, making it 12-7.
Alvarez faced the minimum in the fourth and fifth frames.
Auburn extended its lead back to 10 runs after a five-spot in the sixth. Bingaman led off the frame with his eighth double of the season and third extra-base hit of the day before Belyeu launched his second home run of the game to double his season total and extend the Tigers’ lead to seven. With two outs, Mason McCraine recorded his 11th double of the season – tied for the second most among SEC freshmen – and a third walk to Guevara put two runners aboard. Fralick then lined a two-run double to right-center, driving in his sixth run of the game – a career high – to make it 16-7. Chris Rembert followed with his third hit of the afternoon, an RBI single that scored Fralick and stretched Auburn’s advantage back to 10 runs.
However, NC State answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame. After putting two runners aboard with two outs, the Wolfpack chased Auburn starter Alvarez from the game after 109 pitches despite working ahead in a two-strike count. Griffin Graves entered in relief and surrendered an RBI single on his first pitch to make it 17-8. Another run scored on another RBI single with runners on the corners, but Mason McCraine hosed the runner at first, trying to take an extra base, limiting the damage and keeping Auburn in front 17-9.
NC State continued to chip away in the seventh. With a pair of runners in scoring position, the Wolfpack capitalized on a misplay in right field by Mason McCraine, which drove in a run and left two runners in scoring position. A sacrifice fly down the right-field line plated another to cut the deficit to 17-11, and a wild pitch later brought home the runner from third. Auburn then turned to Jackson Sanders, who entered with a 3-1 count and surrendered a solo home run two pitches later as NC State trimmed the Tigers’ lead to 17-13.
Sanders worked a clean eighth and ninth to give the Tigers a fighting chance at another Regional title.
Auburn will face the loser of UCF/Milwaukee on Sunday at 2 p.m.
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