Behind Carson Myers' dominant relief effort, No. 4 Auburn baseball defeated Central Connecticut State 9-5 in the first round of the Auburn Regional.
“Yeah, tough ball game for sure. I just absolutely give a ton of credit to Central Connecticut. I just thought they absolutely came out swinging the bats,” said Auburn Head Coach Butch Thompson. “When Carson got in the ball game, he just got better and better each inning, and he was a huge difference. He really pitched great tonight and got the ballgame to one of our captains, Parker Carlson."
After Cam Tilly escaped a bases-loaded jam in the top of the first, Auburn’s bats looked to strike early. Two walks and a double from projected first-round draft pick Ike Irish loaded the bases for the Tigers.
Three straight singles from Lucas Steele, Eric Snow, and Bub Terrell put the orange and blue on top 4-0 after the opening frame.
In the second, two singles and a pair of walks by Tilly forced Auburn to turn to the bullpen. The Tigers brought in Myers, who was able to limit the damage and keep a one-run lead.
The Northeast Conference champion Blue Devils tied the game in the top of the third via a two-out single from Brady Short.
Auburn quickly regained the lead in the home half of the inning courtesy of Steele’s 432-foot leadoff blast over the right field wall.
“I got that pitch, and I guess it was a big momentum change to be able to take the lead and keep that lead throughout the game,” Steele said. “That isn’t the hardest one I’ve hit, but it’s definitely the furthest.”
The Tigers added three more runs in the inning via hits from Terrell, Chase Fralick, and Chris Rembert, extending their lead to 8-4. All nine Auburn hitters reached base at least once in Friday’s regional opener.
In the bottom of the fourth, Terrell hit a sac fly to left to extend the lead to 9-4. The freshman from Alabaster, AL, finished the night with a team-high three RBIs.
Myers was terrific in relief for Auburn, tossing six innings and posting nine strikeouts while surrendering only one earned run. Parker Carlson relieved him of his duties in the eighth.
"I just went out there and had fun," Myers said. "I wanted to give every ounce of effort I had and more."
CCSU threatened in the eighth, but Carlson was able to get Aidan Redahan to ground into a double play, avoiding the big inning. Redahan entered the game with the highest batting average in all of Division 1 at .459.
Auburn will face Stetson in the second round tomorrow night. First pitch is set for 8:00 p.m. CST, and the game is available to stream on ESPN+.
“I thought Stetson did everything well,” Thompson said. “I was impressed with Stetson and their rhythm. They played a really good baseball game today against a really good team.”
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Rory is a freshman majoring in journalism sports production. He started with The Plainsman in the spring of 2025.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @RorymGarvin
