The Auburn baseball bats are alive and well, having gotten plenty of facetime with pitches thrown by Southeastern Louisiana bats on Friday night during the 2022 NCAAB Road to the College World Series Regional Round opener for the Plainsman Park home team.
With Florida State toppling UCLA on the Plains’ aesthetically baseball diamond down S Donahue Drive right before, the Tigers emphatically punched their ticket to the winner’s game on the Regional Round’s second day. The Seminoles got a well-balanced offensive showing from their lineup and a strong bullpen outing as well against the No. 2 seed in the region.
AU opened up the first inning with 11 runs to immediately bury the Lions out of the gate on the strength of two Cole Foster home runs–the first a two-run shot from the right side of the plate before he launched a grand slam to right field from the other side of the plate–a two-run dinger from Bobby Pierce, and a solo-shot from Sonny DiChiara.
Trace Bright picked up the victory, having given up four runs and striking out a career-high 10 batters. He threw 101 pitches, putting into serious doubt the possibility of a relief appearance this weekend. Out of the bullpen, Konnor Copeland struggled in the eighth inning, giving up three runs. Brooks Fuller gave up a walk but no hits in an inning and a third of clean-up duty.
The easy part is over for Auburn baseball, as FSU now looks to upset the Tigers on their homefield on a summer Saturday night. Will they be successful?
Fly War Eagle has the odds for Auburn-Florida State while laying down a prediction for the Saturday night ESPN2-televised matchup at Plainsman Park:
Auburn baseball vs Florida State Line
Auburn is a -140 favorite while Florida State’s moneyline is +110.
Auburn vs Florida State prediction
Friday night was a convincing showing. If Cole Foster’s bat is there to lead into the monstrous swing of Sonny DiChiara, opposing pitchers are at the mercy of the top of Auburn’s lineup.
While the odds aren’t fantastic, the Tigers are hot enough to justify a sizable wager.