Auburn Daily

Everything you need to know for Auburn baseball's super regional at Oregon State

Auburn baseball heads to Corvallis to take on Oregon State in the super regional round.

Andrew Stefaniak

Everything you need to know for Auburn baseball's super regional at Oregon State
Everything you need to know for Auburn baseball's super regional at Oregon State /

After the Auburn baseball team dominated Florida State, UCLA, and Southeastern Louisiana, the team has a much more daunting task ahead, with the Beavers of Oregon State waiting on them. 

This is setting up to be one of the best super-regionals of the weekend. You have the red-hot Auburn team coming off, scoring 51 runs in three games. Then you have an Oregon State team that does everything at a high level. 

One of the most exciting matchups in this three-game set will be the best hitter in the SEC, Sonny DiChiara, facing off against the best pitcher in the nation Cooper Hjerpe. This will be the game within the game because these are two fantastic baseball players. 

This Oregon State team has a 47-16 record. When they are playing at their ballpark Goss Stadium, they are 21-8. 

Oregon State historically is an amazing program. The Beavers will be looking for their eighth appearance in the College World Series. They have not been to Omaha since 2018, so I am sure the team is itching to get there. 

Oregon State is a school that has a lot of baseball fans. Every one of these games will be sold out, and these fans will have tons of energy. While the Beaver fans are loud, they are a really classy bunch. They even gave the opposing pitcher a standing ovation after an outstanding performance last weekend in the regional round.  

Let's take a deeper look into this upcoming exciting weekend of baseball. 

Auburn's Weekend Rotation

Auburn Tigers pitcher Mason Barnett (18) pitches as Auburn Tigers take on UCLA Bruins during the NCAA regional baseball tournament at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala., on Sunday, June 5, 2022.
© Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

Mason Barnett (3-2 4.13)

Joseph Gonzalez (7-2 2.90)

Trace Bright (4-4 4.80)

The order that these three starters will go in has yet to be released, but you will see these three guys start on the mound for the Tigers. 

Projected Auburn Lineup

Auburn baseball's Brody Moore against Middle Tennessee State.
Auburn Athletics

Rambusch 3B

Foster 2B

DiChiara 1B

Peirce RF

Carlson DH

Moore SS

Howell CF

LaRue C

Bello LF

Coach Thompson's thoughts on the team's goals

© Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

Coach Thompson is a great motivator, and in speaking to the press recently, he said this season is "National Championship or bust." 

Coach also shared a great quote that he picked up from a coaching buddy which is, "People don't fail because they aim high and miss; they fail because they aim low and hit." This is an excellent quote from Coach Thompson that should get Tiger fans excited. Coach knows what this team is capable of after the weekend they put together in the regional round. 

Often around college baseball, teams use the slogan "Road to Omaha." This sets a low standard that Coach Thompson and his staff are trying to end. Their goal is not to make it to Omaha. The goal is to make it to Omaha and come home with some hardware. 

The Auburn baseball program is blessed to have a great head coach that knows how to get everything out of his players. 

Here is the full video clip of Coach Thompson addressing the media after the regional. 

Who will be the X-factor's for the Tigers

Auburn Tigers outfielder Mike Bello (31) slides safely into home plate beating Southeastern Louisiana Lions catcher Bryce Grizzaffi (1)as Auburn Tigers take on Southeastern Louisiana Lions during the NCAA regional baseball tournament at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala., on Friday, June 3, 2022.
© Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

One person who will need to have a big weekend is true freshman Mike Bello. This kid has one of the most beautiful left-handed swings I have seen, and he is coming off a terrific weekend in the regional round. Last weekend, Bello was 5-12 at the plate, knocking in three runs. He also got on via a hit by pitch against UCLA. Bello is hitting in the nine-hole for the Tigers, which means if he can get on base, that brings up the top of the lineup. If Auburn is going to win this super regional, Bello will need to have another great weekend at the dish. 

Trace Bright is another player that will need to put up good numbers for the Tigers to have a shot. Bright can be a bit wild at times which is precisely how the Beavers score runs. He will need to get ahead of the hitters and throw a lot of strikes to keep his team in the ball game. Bright has really nasty stuff. He just needs to work on locating his pitches better. If he can hit his spots, he is in for a big game against the Beavers. 

Beavers to remember

Oregon State left fielder Wade Meckler, left, celebrates after crossing home plate to score for the Beavers Friday, June 3, 2022, at the 2022 NCAA Corvallis Regional at Goss Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon.
© Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Hjerpe is the best pitcher in all of college baseball this year and is one of the finalists for the Golden Spikes Award. He is a very interesting pitcher because he does not light up the radar gun. He throws from a lower arm angle, and it seems to be tough for hitters to pick up. He has an excellent arsenal of offspeed pitches. His curveball has a slider shape to it but is a few miles per hour slower than his slider. His slider is probably his best pitch, as it moves a lot and is hard for hitters to pick up. His change-up is good, not great, but he can use it to get an out if he needs to. Hjerpe will be a first-round pick in this upcoming MLB Draft. It will be a tall ask for the Tiger hitters to put up runs on this guy. 

The best Beaver hitter is Jacob Melton. He is hitting .360 this year with 81 RBI's and 16 home runs. He won Pac-12 player of the year, which is a tremendous honor. He is coming off a weekend where he only had one hit in his 18 at-bats. The one hit he did have was a go-ahead home run in the winner take all game against Vanderbilt. If Auburn wants a chance to head to Omaha, they will need to keep Melton from getting his bat hot.

Beavers by the numbers

Oregon State first baseman Garret Forrester, left, makes a catch as New Mexico State second baseman Edwin Martinez-Pagani slides safely back to first base during the 2022 NCAA Corvallis Regional at Goss Stadium Friday, June 3, 2022, in Corvallis, Oregon.
© Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Beavers are near the top in just about every statistical category, but let's take a look at where they stand in some of the most important stats. 

Base on balls - 1st 

Doubles - 14th

Fielding percentage - 6th

Hits - 16th

Home runs - 127th

On-base percentage - 18th 

Runs - 27th 

Strikeout to walk ratio - 4th

Walks allowed per nine innings - 6th

WHIP - 8th 

These numbers tell us that the Beavers are very patient at the plate. They are just fine with taking their walks. This will mean that the Tiger pitchers will need to do a good job getting ahead in counts. They do not hit a ton of home runs, so the Auburn pitching staff should make sure that they are filling up the zone. The Beavers score their runs by getting walked, stealing bases, then getting hit in. If you attack this Beaver lineup, you are putting yourself in a good position, but if you play around with them, they will produce a lot of runs. 

As for the Beaver pitching staff, they throw a lot of strikes. They have an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio, meaning they get a lot of strikeouts and don't issue many walks. Auburn hitters will need to go into the box aggressively. A great example of this is Brody Moore. He often swings at the first pitch he sees. I foresee him having a good weekend at the plate, much like he did last weekend in the Auburn regional. Auburn has one thing going for them, and that is how hot their bats are currently. If they bring that with them to Corvallis and are aggressive in the box, the Tigers have a good shot of heading to Omaha. 

Auburn numbers compared to the Beaver numbers

Auburn Tigers infielder Brooks Carlson (19) celebrates after hitting a home run as Auburn Tigers take on Florida State Seminoles during the NCAA regional baseball tournament at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, June 4, 2022.
© Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

Where can you find the games?

Auburn Tigers players warm up as Auburn Tigers take on UCLA Bruins during the NCAA regional baseball tournament at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala., on Sunday, June 5, 2022.
© Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

All of the games will be televised on ESPN2. We will also be doing a live blog here at Auburn Daily if you cannot watch the games on TV. The Saturday and Sunday games will be played at 9 p.m. CT. A time for the Monday games has not been released since it might not have to be played to crown a winner. It will be a long weekend for Tiger fans as the games will be late, but it will be a very exciting weekend of baseball. The Tigers will look to advance to Omaha for the sixth time in program history. 

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Andrew Stefaniak
ANDREW STEFANIAK

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