CHAPEL HILL | Auburn’s 13-run first inning is not only the second-most runs ever in one inning of an NCAA tournament game, it’s also the most runs Auburn has scored in any inning in 19 years.
The Tigers scored 14 in the first inning of a 19-2 win over Mercer in 2000. The most runs scored in a single inning of an NCAA tournament game was 18 by LSU the 7th of a 29-13 win over Georgia Tech in 1996.
The key at-bat of the inning may have come from Edouard Julien with the bases loaded, one out and one run in. After walking the first four batters of the game, UNC starter Joey Lancellotti was replaced by Connor Ollio, who promptly struck out Rankin Woley for the first out of the inning.
Ollio went to a full count on Julien needing a double play to end the inning, but the sophomore drove a single to right field to drive in two and give AU a 3-0 lead. It essentially opened up the floodgates as five of the next six batters got a hit including a three-run home run by Judd Ward.
“It was 3-2 and during the first two games, they were trying to go off-speed against me,” Julien said. “It was kind of in the back of why mind he was going to throw a changeup right there. He hung it and I hit it over first base and it was a pretty good feeling.”
Seven of AU’s 13 runs came after two outs including Ward’s home run. In total, AU sent 17 batters to the plate, scoring the 13 runs on nine hits, five walks and one UNC error. Four UNC pitchers threw 65 pitches. Julien had two singles and three RBI in the inning.
“You can tell we circled the wagons and tried to figure out the best way to win the first inning,” said Auburn coach Butch Thompson after AU was out-scored 5-0 in the first innings of games one and two.
LATE DECISION: Auburn originally named Richard Fitts the starter for game three before making the switch to Tanner Burns late Sunday night. Burns, who has been restricted with a sore shoulder, threw 2.0 hitless innings to get the Tigers started. Fitts took over in the third inning and got AU into the eighth, allowing six runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings.
“We got clobbered the last two days in the first inning. That’s why there was a shift to Tanner. Tanner has been starting his whole life,” Thompson said. “So I'm about to play super coach and throw him out of the bullpen. And I'm starting Fitts and he's just now throwing good out of the bullpen.
“These first innings was like the last piece of like, we're starting Tanner even if we only get two innings. Just to try and win the first inning, and we just started hammering and hammering and hammering away at that last night in our meetings. Amazing first inning.”
STEADY COURSE: Auburn’s baseball program has been on a steady rise under the leadership of fourth-year head coach Butch Thompson. The Tigers didn’t qualify for a NCAA Regional in his first season but made it in year two, advancing to the final game of the Tallahassee Regional in 2017 before losing 6-0 to Florida State.
In year three, Auburn won the 2018 Raleigh Regional, its first Regional win in 19 years, and advanced to the Gainesville Super Regional, winning its first-ever Super Regional game before falling 3-2 in 11 innings in the final.
This season, Auburn won back-to-back NCAA Regionals and a Super Regional for the first time in program history, and advanced to the College World Series for the fifth time in school history and the first time since 1997.
“When you punch your ticket to Omaha, you’re connected forever,” Thompson said. “Those guys are going to be able to come back to Auburn for the rest of their lives, and there’s a legacy. There’ll always be a number, a year, associated with this accomplishment.”
CWS FORMAT: Auburn will play No. 6 national seed Mississippi State in its first game of the 2019 College World Series. The Tigers won one of three at MSU March 22-24, beating All-American Ethan Small, who they’ll likely face again in the CWS, in the first game before dropping the next two.
Auburn’s side of the bracket also includes No. 2 seed Vanderbilt and No. 7 seed Louisville. The four teams will play a double elimination tournament with the winner advancing to a best 2-of-3 championship series against the winner of opposite bracket.
