Auburn baseball ran into a buzzsaw Sunday night against Oregon State, and now with the series tied at one apiece, the 2022 Road to the College World Series Super Regionals matchup between the Tigers and the Beavers will see a decisive rubber match Monday night in Corvallis.
AU avoided Golden Spikes Award finalist Cooper Hjerpe on Saturday due to an undisclosed illness, but they were not as lucky Sunday night. The OSU ace was able to suit up and deliver a masterclass performance to save the Beavers’ season: he retired the first eight batters he faced, struck out four of his first five batters, and took a no-hitter into the fourth inning. Hjerpe’s night ended with five and 2/3 innings pitched, six strikeouts, three hits and three earned runs.
While Auburn baseball did threaten in the fourth inning with three hits and two runs, they were ultimately held scoreless in seven of the nine frames and couldn’t generate any offense against Beavers reliever Ben Ferrer, who went for three and 1/3 innings, giving up just two hits and fanning three Tiger batters.
The performance was not an ideal outing from Butch Thompson’s squad, but it did come against a bona fide future major-leaguer. AU had to run out of gas at some point, but even in the loss they had enough offensive pop to make it a game.
With the 2022 season’s fate on the line, as well as a sixth College World Series trip, will it be Auburn or Oregon State punching their ticket to Omaha to play Ole Miss in the third-to-last obstacle separating them from the first NCAA baseball championship in program history?
Fly War Eagle has your odds and a prediction for the June 13th Super Regionals matchup:
Auburn baseball vs Oregon State Line
Auburn is a +130 underdog while Oregon State’s moneyline is -160. The over/under run total is set at 11.5.
Auburn vs Oregon State prediction
The Tigers should hardly be chastised for slowing down (by their standards) against Cooper Hjerpe on Sunday night. That was the best pitcher they’ve faced so far in postseason play and among the top arms they’ve seen all season, playing in front of a Corvallis crowd for the last time as a collegiate athlete.
That performance was special, and still barely beat the Tigers. Take the plus-money upset. On to Omaha.