Steve Trimper acknowledged the end result first.
“It didn’t go our way,” Stetson’s head coach said.
But then he moved into how he felt.
“But I’m so proud of our guys — goosebump proud — of how hard we fought all night long in an unbelievable atmosphere,” he said.
In front of 7,434 fans at raucous Plainsman Park, the third-seeded Hatters lost to top-seeded Auburn in an NCAA Tournament game where the winner clinched a spot in the Regional finals Saturday. They fell behind 4-0 early before battling back to 4-3 and challenging the Tigers from there.
But as Trimper mentioned, the final score wasn’t the one Stetson (41-21) desired. Because of that, it will play for its postseason life against No. 2 North Carolina State Sunday.
Auburn (40-18) will await the victor, with a Super Regionals spot up for grabs.
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s nightcap:
1. Auburn rides doubles to victory over Stetson
Every time the Tigers needed a hit, it arrived in the form of a double.
Of their 12 hits, they slugged eight two-baggers, the most by any SEC team in a single game this season. Each of their first seven runs came off doubles.
“They’re good hitters,” said Stetson reliever Ty Van Dyke, who tossed four innings and allowed three runs. “They’re attacking, especially if you fall behind. They’re on their pitch, and they hit mistakes.”
Cooper McMurray led the way, smashing three doubles. Eric Snow and Bub Terrell accounted for two apiece, and Ike Irish added one for good measure.
Irish’s homer to lead off the ninth inning was the lone Auburn run to sprout from something other than a double.
2. Stetson never goes away
It would’ve been easy for the Hatters to fade. Trimper admitted as much afterward.
They fell down 4-0 in the first three innings to a nationally ranked SEC program averaging 10 runs a game since the calendar flipped to May.
“That would’ve been a time where a normal team could’ve quit or put their heads down,” Trimper said.
But Stetson stayed in it.
The Hatters got one run back on a groundout by third baseman Isaiah Barkett in the bottom of the third. They snatched two back in the bottom of the fourth on RBI singles by right fielder Jordan Taylor and center fielder Landon Russell.
After Auburn extended its lead to 7-3 in the top of the seventh inning, Stetson quickly answered with an RBI double by Barkett and an RBI single by pinch hitter Jayden Hylton to make it 7-5.
“There’s no panic button with us,” Trimper said.
3. Stetson rematch with NC State set up
We’ve seen this one before.
When they met Friday, the Hatters pounced on the Wolfpack with seven runs in the first inning. NC State never recovered and lost 11-2.
Stetson starter Jonathan Gonzalez dealt six shutout innings, and Barkett took full advantage of a revenge opportunity. The NC State transfer crushed his old squad with three doubles, four RBIs and two walks.
The Wolfpack enjoyed the fun side of a rout Saturday, though. They trounced Central Connecticut State 12-0, eliminating the Blue Devils from the Auburn Regional bracket.
Ryan Marohn dominated for eight innings on the mound with 10 strikeouts. Second baseman Luke Nixon drove in four runs, and third baseman Ryder Woodson knocked in three.
Sunday’s first pitch between the Hatters and NC State is scheduled for 3 p.m.
“There’s not many teams in the country that are playing in a game like this right now to move on to the championship game tomorrow,” Trimper said. “We have to play our best guys and pitch our best guys.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Stetson falls to Auburn: 3 takeaways from NCAA Tournament baseball game
Reporting by Chris Vinel, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
