AUBURN | David Ross’s dramatic game-winning home run at Dick Howser Stadium is one of the most iconic moments in Auburn history.

But since winning the Tallahassee Regional in 1997, the Tigers have gone 0-7 against Florida State in the NCAA Tournament.

Auburn is 4-10 all-time against FSU in NCAA Regionals. All have taken place in Tallahassee. Saturday night, Auburn will have a chance to turn the tables at Plainsman Park.

“We realize the uniform we’ve got on. We know this history of our program,” said AU coach Butch Thompson, “but at the same time this is going to come down to how we start in this ballgame, if we can keep having good at-bats, if we can dominate the routine play, if we can chip in some timely hits.

"That will be the biggest factor. Not revenge or anything like that. It will be more execution oriented.”

The 14th-ranked Tigers host Florida State in the winner’s bracket of the Auburn Regional Saturday night at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

The winner will need just one more win Sunday or Monday to advance to a Super Regional. The loser has to win three consecutive games to be crowned Regional champion.

“I feel like I’m going to tell my team tomorrow that we’ve won seven Regional games in a row, and this will come down to execution,” said Thompson. “I think this is the 12th Regional with Florida State so I get all that. It just won’t be the determining factor of the ballgame. I’m always trying to build confidence. The game’s hard enough as it is.”

FSU opened the Auburn Regional with a 5-3 win over UCLA to improve to 34-23 on the season. They will start left-hander Bryce Hubbart, who is 8-2 with a 3.18 ERA with 94 strikeouts in 73.2 innings.

Auburn, which improved to 38-19 with a 19-7 win over SE Louisiana, will go with its ace, right-hander Jospeh Gonzalez, who is 6-2 on the season with a 2.74 ERA.

“We’ll take that every game the rest of the year, but we know it’s a completely different set of circumstances how things set up tomorrow,” said Thompson of AU’s season-high 20 hits and seven home runs against SLU.

“As long as everybody is engaged and focusing pitch-by-pitch and having at-bats and not worrying about base runners and just take care of their at-bats, we’ll roll with that.”

Day two of the Auburn Regional gets underway Saturday at noon with SE Louisiana facing UCLA on ESPN2 in an elimination game.