Auburn baseball survives Stanford in College World Series, will face Ole Miss or Arkansas
Cole Foster slowed down between first and second base, unwilling to exert more than he needed. He squatted when he was on base, head down. He was slow to emerge from the dugout between innings.
All actions pointed to what Auburn baseball coach Butch Thompson said on pregame radio: The Tigers had been dealing with illness at the College World Series. Foster was the first to feel the effects of the apparent stomach bug, leaving in the fifth inning of Auburn's Game 1 loss Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska.
In the heat and through the discomfort, a hero emerged Monday.
Foster cleared the bases with a go-ahead three-run double in the sixth inning, giving Auburn a two-run lead an eventual 6-2 win against No. 2 overall seed Stanford (46-18 to survive elimination. With their first CWS win since 1997, the Tigers (43-21) advance to the final six teams and face the loser of Arkansas vs. Ole Miss on Tuesday (6 p.m. CT, ESPN).
Cole Foster's unlikely heroics
The end stared Auburn in the face, trailing 2-0 in the sixth inning against Stanford reliever Quinn Mathews (2.62 ERA, .204 on-base percentage).
But the Tigers found holes on the left side, starting with Mike Bello and Blake Rambusch, who snapped an 0-for-18 streak. With one out, Mathews mislocated an outside target with two strikes, hitting Sonny DiChiara in the helmet. Then he walked Peirce to score Auburn's first run.
The game found Foster, who was moved from the No. 2 spot in the lineup to sixth for the first time this postseason. Thompson wanted experience at the top of the lineup, as the first two hitters had gone 5-for-42 in the last six games. So here was Foster in his new lineup spot, with two outs and Auburn's season on the line, waving at Mathews' deceptive changeup.
Foster adjusted. He found the next changeup.
It went off the left-center wall and scored three. Auburn tagged Mathews for six runs in his worst outing of the season.
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Trace Bright, Auburn bullpen neutralize Stanford lineup
As Trace Bright surrendered two runs in the first two innings, pitching coach Tim Hudson initiated early bullpen activity for the Tigers. It was déjà vu all over again – Bright didn't last through the first inning in his most recent start – until it wasn't.
The right-hander mixed velocities perfectly, hitting 97 mph and buckling knees with his changeup. He settled in and struck out eight in five innings. He sparked Auburn's comeback with an escape in the fifth, stranding a runner on third base with back-to-back strikeouts. Stanford missed the chance to make it 3-0.
Tommy Sheehan bridged the gap, and Blake Burkhalter entered to strand the bases loaded in the seventh. He was en route to a seven-out closing effort.
Becoming the aggressor after 30 passive innings
Through three innings Monday (12 total in the College World Series), Auburn was batting 5-for-41 (.122) with two extra-base hits and no walks in Omaha. The Tigers were entrenched in a 30-inning stretch with three leadoff base runners.
A change could be sensed from the fourth inning onward, when Auburn became the aggressor – even as execution was lacking. Four consecutive leadoff hitters reached. A batter's interference, a bad sacrifice bunt and a botched intentional rundown play piled up for two innings, but it was only a matter of time.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn baseball beats Stanford in College World Series 2022
