Auburn CWS Game Thread

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

2 minutes ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

Auburn is always the bridesmaid and very rarely the bride. Nice season, but it’s disappointing to always see your team make it close but never win. 

Do you realize how many times Florida State has been to Omaha and never won this thing?

[mcgufcm 4,096]

1 minute ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

Auburn is always the bridesmaid and very rarely the bride. Nice season, but it’s disappointing to always see your team make it close but never win. 

No offense, but this was a hell of a lot more than a “nice season.” Unless you’re just trying to be funny like Golf, which I don’t think. 

I really hate the mentality that every season is championship or “bridesmaid.” This year was incredible. And fun. 

[tgrogan21 6,198]

Just amazing clutch hitting or horrible clutch pitching. I don't know.

[SCTiger2011 1,277]

5 minutes ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

Auburn is always the bridesmaid and very rarely the bride. Nice season, but it’s disappointing to always see your team make it close but never win. 

3 Regional Titles in 4 years...2 Super Regional Titles in 3 years.  People need to get the college football national championship mentality out of their mind with other sports.  Applying the "Just Auburn Being Auburn" nonsense to this baseball program the last 5 years is short-sided at best, and dumb as hell at worst.

[BigBlueWDE 1,136]

Their LF seemed to be able to make a play in the sun

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

Just now, SCTiger2011 said:

3 Regional Titles in 4 years...2 Super Regional Titles in 3 years.  People need to get the college football national championship mentality out of their mind with other sports.  Applying the "Just Auburn Being Auburn" nonsense to this baseball program the last 5 years is short-sided at best, and dumb as hell at worst.

Exactly.  We've been to all of 6 CWS in our entire history.  2 in the last 4 years is exceptional!

[BigBlueWDE 1,136]

Welp, at least they aren't no hitting us now. 

[gr82be 14,423]

5 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Exactly.  We've been to all of 6 CWS in our entire history.  2 in the last 4 years is exceptional!

True. Only one team can win it all. Everyone else goes home disappointed. Very good year. Not over yet but if it ends tonight it's nothing to hang their heads about. 

[Pedaler 1,001]

I see all of this and remember that TN stayed home after one of the best regular seasons ever.

[Tigger1985 806]

Finally making some contact anyway 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

2 minutes ago, gr82be said:

True. Only one team can win it all. Everyone else goes home disappointed. Very good year. Not over yet but if it ends tonight it's nothing to hang their heads about. 

I said it earlier, but here's the actual number to illustrate how hard it is to win it.

FSU has been to the CWS 23 times.  Zero titles.

Clemson 12 appearances.  No titles.

Arkansas 11 appearances.  No titles.

Took Mississippi State 12 trips to finally win it.

[Gowebb11 9,314]

Everyone is thrilled when the Basketball lands in the Elite 8. That’s what the CWS is, the Elite 8 of baseball. Now we’re in the final 6. Huge strides for our baseball program to do this 2 of the last 4 years. Very proud of the kids and for Coach Thompson and his staff. (Need to hit the curve ball better, though 😅)

[SCTiger2011 1,277]

2 minutes ago, Gowebb11 said:

Everyone is thrilled when the Basketball lands in the Elite 8. That’s what the CWS is, the Elite 8 of baseball. Now we’re in the final 6. Huge strides for our baseball program to do this 2 of the last 4 years. Very proud of the kids and for Coach Thompson and his staff. (Need to hit the curve ball better, though 😅)

Wait, wait...how do you do something BETTER before you do it ONCE lol

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

16 minutes ago, Pedaler said:

I see all of this and remember that TN stayed home after one of the best regular seasons ever.

And so did bammer....

[au302 2,669]

I'm thrilled with Butch. He's remarkable. We are now past the "glad to be here" phase. Now it's time to figure out how we can take the next step to compete with the top of the SECW. 

1. NIL- Pump it into Butch so that we can get aces from the portal and lure elite HS prospects to stay.

2. Facilities- Do whatever Butch wants here, even if that is to tear it down and build a new one.

3. Recruiting- Goes off NIL, but take the next step. We need to get more physical to go against Arky, OM, etc. 

4. Staff- This is where I piss a lot of folks off, but go after the elite of the elite assistants that can help Butch take us to the next level. I think Gabe's had his moments here, but it may be time for him to leave the nest and go take a G5 head job. I think he's "fine" to "good", but Butch is elite, and elite HC's attract elite assistant

Find a way to get an elite hitting coach like Doug Sisson back, who can help develop guys like Howell, Larue, Dyal, and Ware, who have not seemed to develop much in their careers at the plate. This will help deepen us and improve our bench. Huddy on the other hand is improving like crazy. So proud of his growth this year. Stay the course with him. Fire away, but I think it's a fair opinion.

[jw 4 au 526]

Stepped away for a sec. Still taking first pitch meatballs I see. 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

31 minutes ago, BigBlueWDE said:

Their LF seemed to be able to make a play in the sun

Bello just finished his freshman season and he didn't start until later in the season. He just doesn't have the experience. 

[BigBlueWDE 1,136]

Believe it or not, one can simultaneously be very happy about the direction of the baseball program and also be extremely upset bc yet another Auburn team didn't win the natty.

History says we dont get the chance very often...on average we get a shot every couple of years.

2022: gymnastics, womens golf, baseball

2019: mens basketball, baseball

2016: softball

2015: softball, gymnastics

2013: football

Edit: I am undoubtedly missing a few that had a chance at winning it all

Edited June 22, 2022 by BigBlueWDE

[AUwent 3,748]

10 minutes ago, BigBlueWDE said:

Believe it or not, one can simultaneously be very happy about the direction of the baseball program and also be extremely upset bc yet another Auburn team didn't win the natty.

History says we dont get the chance very often...on average we get a shot every couple of 2 years.

2022: gymnastics, womens golf, baseball

2019: mens basketball, baseball

2016: softball

2015: softball, gymnastics

2013: football

Yeah, teams in the SEC have won so many NCs over the last decade (spending the most money will do that). We did get one in equestrian but IDK how much that counts.

Still, aside from football, I feel very good about our athletics program right now.

Edited June 22, 2022 by AUwent

[au302 2,669]

12 minutes ago, Tigerbelle said:

Bello just finished his freshman season and he didn't start until later in the season. He just doesn't have the experience. 

Or athleticism and speed. Very high on him as a hitter, but think he may be best suited at DH going forward

[SCTiger2011 1,277]

BOBBY BARRELS.  Homerun in B7 gets Auburn on the board

[TigerPAC 965]

3 minutes ago, au302 said:

Or athleticism and speed. Very high on him as a hitter, but think he may be best suited at DH going forward

As a hitter, he better do some adjusting as well.  “Freshman” in any college sport doesn’t mean what it used to.  

[au302 2,669]

6 minutes ago, TigerPAC said:

As a hitter, he better do some adjusting as well.  “Freshman” in any college sport doesn’t mean what it used to.  

Unfortunately he has been thrown in the fire due to some lack of development in guys like Ware and Dual (think Dyal can play LF). Our pitching development is probably ahead of our hitting development right now, which is hard to do at any level. Props to Butch and Huddy for that as well

[SCTiger2011 1,277]

31 minutes ago, BigBlueWDE said:

Believe it or not, one can simultaneously be very happy about the direction of the baseball program and also be extremely upset bc yet another Auburn team didn't win the natty.

History says we dont get the chance very often...on average we get a shot every couple of years.

2022: gymnastics, womens golf, baseball

2019: mens basketball, baseball

2016: softball

2015: softball, gymnastics

2013: football

Edit: I am undoubtedly missing a few that had a chance at winning it all

Oh absolutely.  But usually proponents of this nuanced stance don't throw around words like "embarrassment" or magnify the negatives more than they celebrate the positives.  It's not like this run is coming to an end after a season of potential national title hype that fell short. I'm not an "aw shucks, we made it, that's as good as winning it all" person by any means, but anecdotally in my viewing of Auburn fan social media surrounding baseball this season, our own fans are quick to jump on this team's flaws (of which they have quite a bit), but were nowhere to be found watching the team grow as a cohesive unit from February.  Watching this team lose to freaking Middle Tennessee and Ole Miss in March, you would have thought they would have had to buy their own ticket to Hoover and been playing summer ball for the last month. 

There are no such thing as moral victories to be sure, but ending a season in Omaha at any point in the tournament is never a moral victory.  This is Auburn's best season performance in HISTORY, outside of 1967 where they finished 4th in the CWS.

Edited June 22, 2022 by SCTiger2011

[SCTiger2011 1,277]

For those still watching the pain on the field, Bobby Peirce with the HOSE to get a runner at third.