Hosting a super regional for the first time in program history, No.4 Auburn overcame a five-run deficit, but No. 13 Coastal Carolina hit four home runs to extend its winning streak to 22, defeating the Tigers 7-6 in 10 innings Friday before another Plainsman Park record crowd.
Coastal Carolina’s Caden Bodine belted his second home run of the game with one out in the top of the 10th inning to break a 6-6 tie in a game that ended at 1:16 a.m. Saturday.
Auburn put two baserunners aboard with nobody out in the ninth and put the tying run in scoring position with one out in the 10th, but a pair of diving double plays ended both threats to give the Chanticleers the win.
“We got down. The two big swings by (Blagen) Pado were absolutely the difference in the game. Those guys are really good,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “I really was impressed with our guys. Got it back tied. We had a chance to win the ballgame but could not push it across the finish line.”
With 7,891 in attendance for the series opener, Bub Terrell recorded the game’s first out with a running catch in left field, the first of five straight hitters retired by Auburn starter Samuel Dutton.
The Tigers scored in the bottom of the first after Ike Irish doubled with two outs and scored on Cooper McMurray’s single through the left side against the shift.
The visitors tied the score at 1-1 in the top of the second on Blagen Pado’s two-out home run to left.
Coastal Carolina (52-11) took a 2-1 lead on Bodine’s two-out home run in the top of the third.
Pado, who entered the game with six home runs on the season, hit his second of the night in his next at-bat, a three-run blast over the War Eagle Wall to put Coastal Carolina ahead 5-1 in the fourth.
Carson Myers relieved Dutton with two outs and two on in the fourth, allowing an inherited runner to score for a 6-1 Coastal lead before catcher Chase Fralick tagged a runner between third and home on an attempted double steal.
Auburn answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth when Fralick doubled on the first pitch, moved to third on a fly to right, and scored on Chris Rembert’s sacrifice fly to trim the Chanticleers’ lead to 6-2.
After Myers set Coastal Carolina down in order at the top of the fifth, Irish led off the bottom of the inning with his 19th home run of the season to trim Auburn’s deficit to 6-3.
Myers worked another one-two-three inning in the top of the sixth to bring his streak to six straight before a lightning delay stopped play with Auburn coming to bat in the bottom of the inning.
After a nearly two-hour delay, Auburn scored for the third straight inning when Bristol Carter led off with a single, advanced to second on a two-out wild pitch, and scored on a throwing error by Coastal reliever Dominick Carbone.
Griffin Graves relieved Myers to start the seventh, striking out the first batter he faced and retiring the visitors in order.
Scoring in the fourth consecutive inning, Auburn added two runs in the seventh. McMurray doubled with one out, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Lucas Steele’s groundout. Eric Snow followed with a game-tying home run, his eighth of the season, over the War Eagle Wall, tying the score at 6-6.
Graves struck out two more in a scoreless eighth, then duplicated that feat in the ninth, finishing with five strikeouts and no hits in three shutout innings, with thousands of Auburn fans roaring their late-night approval.
“I knew I could go out there, beat those hitters and have confidence,” Graves said. “I was out there trusting my guys, knew they were going to be behind me no matter what happened. I enjoyed every moment of it.”
Auburn put the first two batters on in the bottom of the ninth aboard, but a strikeout and double play ended the Tigers’ chance for a walk-off win, sending the game to extra innings.
Bodine hit his game-winning homer off Ryan Hetzler (2-1), who then loaded the bases before escaping the jam with a strikeout and a fielder’s choice.
Snow led off the bottom of the 10th with a single, advancing to second on Carter’s sacrifice bunt before a game-ending double play similar to the one the inning before.
The Tigers (41-19) will look to even the series Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.
“We have confidence and resilience,” Thompson said. “We have to put our heads down, get some sleep, and get back out here. Quick turnaround, get back out here and do everything we can to try to win a baseball game and extend the season.”
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Jackie is a freshman majoring in Drug and Biopharmaceutical Sciences. She started with The Plainsman in fall 2024.
You can follow her on X (Twitter) at @jackie_domingun
