Auburn baseball fans got the last laugh on Saturday night/Sunday morning during Game 1 of the Road to the College World Series Super Regionals against Oregon State after many pegged the Beavers as winners prematurely in the first inning.
Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball got caught in the crossfire. Rogers, who is, by all means, a stand-up mensch as one of the primary sources of coverage for a sport (college baseball) that deserves more eyeballs, fell for the Beaver bait in the first inning as they took a 4-2 lead on Tigers starter Trace Bright.
AU would tie things up in the top of the second by playing some small-ball, and by the top of the third, they were back on top. In the fifth and eighth innings, Auburn baseball padded their lead, and while Oregon State threatened in the bottom of the ninth, their comeback fell short.
Rodgers made a most unfortunate assumption based on Bright’s control issues in the first inning that the Beavers had too much control to let Game 1 get by them:
"“50 pitches and going to the bullpen in the first inning is not exactly the recipe for success against a team like [Oregon State]. Woof.”"
Tiger fans didn’t let him live that down after the comeback win:
Yet success occurred
— The Juice (@thejuiceisgood) June 12, 2022
Auburn’s bullpen after giving up a single run in 8 innings pic.twitter.com/eYd8BqzW2Y
— Skye Underwood (@SkyeUnderwood) June 12, 2022
Cold takes! Get your ice cold takes!
— Johni is a Jedi (@master_______p) June 12, 2022
Auburn won. https://t.co/8OzxBAxX8F
— Graham Carr (@grahamcarr2) June 12, 2022
— Wilson (@WilsonFamilyWDE) June 12, 2022
With the win, nine innings separates the Tigers with their sixth College World Series appearance in franchise history.
They’d face Ole Miss or Southern Mississippi for their first matchup in Omaha this coming weekend should Auburn prove able to close the door on Oregon State Sunday or, if necessary, Monday.