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If the Auburn softball team facing elimination in the Women's College World Series wasn't stressful enough, the baseball team faces elimination in the NCAA Regionals today against the Mercer Bears.
Auburn lost in heart-breaking fashion yesterday to College of Charleston to a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Though the game went 11 innings, the Tigers didn't use up too many of their pitchers. Cole Lipscomb threw 5 2/3s innings, Trey Wingenter through the rest of that inning, Justin Camp through for just over an inning, and then Izaac Yarbrough finished off the rest.
Going intro extra innings during an NCAA Regional is never optimal, since it tires your team - and especially the bullpen - out considerably. The good news for Auburn is that Mercer also went into extra innings last night against Florida State and lost in the bottom of the 10th.
Mercer, the SoCon Champions, doesn't have the greatest RPIs, with a 107 to Auburn's 22. That doesn't mean they're not a good team, though. Taking Florida State into extra innings shows that.
The good news for the Tigers is that they put up 6 runs yesterday and seem to have the bats and the small ball stuff down. It's going to take considerable effort for the Tigers to make it past this Regional, but with the way Auburn looked on Friday, you have to believe they stand a good chance if the pitching holds up.
Should the Tigers win, they will face the loser of FSU and College of Charleston at 11am CDT Sunday. Win that one and they'll face the winner of FSU/CofC at 5pm CDT that afternoon. In order to make it out of the Regional, Auburn will have to win those games and then another on Monday.
How to Watch, Stream, and Listen
Time: 12pm EST / 11am CDT
Watch: SEC Network
Stream: WatchESPN
Listen: AuburnTigers.com