Auburn baseball advances to NCAA Tournament regional final with rout of Florida State
AUBURN — They haven't run out of standing ovations at Plainsman Park just yet.
Auburn baseball fans rewarded their team with another ovation Saturday night after another monstrous inning in the NCAA Tournament – this time, seven manufactured runs before Florida State could find an out in the fourth inning.
After two stress-free regional wins, Auburn is rewarding those fans with more postseason baseball.
The Tigers (39-19) advanced to the regional final with a 21-7 annihilation of third-seeded Florida State (34-24). They await the winner of FSU vs. UCLA on Sunday (6 p.m. CT).
Finding new ways to blow games open
The Tigers were on the verge of exploding for the first three innings. Then they finally did.
On Friday night, the 11-run first inning against Southeastern Louisiana featured four home runs. This time, Auburn did it without the long ball.
Entering the fourth already into Florida State's bullpen but nursing just a 3-1 lead, Auburn executed its rally in steady doses. It started with a single and a walk. Cole Foster stayed hot with an RBI double. Florida State intentionally walked Sonny DiChiara. Bobby Peirce put it in play to shortstop, and the Seminoles committed one of their four errors.
Brooks Carlson slapped a single to right, beating the shift and scoring two. Brody Moore singled through another hole to drive in two more. Florida State's pitching changes were useless; every new arm encountered the Tigers' tough at-bats. The rout was on.
Auburn walked 15 times.
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Joseph Gonzalez finds his form
Auburn's Sunday starter had allowed five runs in two of his last three starts. But Joseph Gonzalez found a groove against Florida State, saving the Tigers' bullpen arms by pitching into the seventh inning.
He was on the hook for two runs after he exited the game to yet another big ovation. Even after those two scored, the big right-hander finished with three earned (a 2.90 season ERA) on four hits in six innings. His 96 pitches were the third-most he has thrown this season.
Experienced bats show up
Auburn shortstop Brody Moore entered the NCAA Tournament on a 5-for-31 stretch in the last seven games.
But the senior rose to the occasion. He reached base all seven plate appearances. He finished 5-for-5 with a triple, a double and five runs batted in, bringing him to 7-for-10 so far in the regional.
Senior Kason Howell went 4-for-5 with an Auburn regional record three doubles. He also walked twice.
DiChiara, another senior, was also emblematic of Auburn's sudden onslaught of disciplined at-bats and contact hitting. In a 12-game stretch entering the tournament, he was 6-for-39 with only one hit that wasn't a home run. The Samford transfer scored five runs Saturday and now has three singles in the regional ... plus two homers.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn baseball routs FSU, makes NCAA Tournament regional final
