Auburn Regional Breakdown: Schedule, How to Watch, Bracket Breakdown

Auburn baseball was the only school that went back-to-back in claiming a regional as a top-four seed. Now, the Tigers will look to get out victorious once again.

Head coach Butch Thompson and his group are on the hunt to get back to the College World Series for the first time since the 2022 season. Their first step will be this upcoming weekend, hosting NC State, UCF and Milwaukee with hopes to host a super regional at Plainsman Park next week.

The Tigers will have plenty of competition arriving in the Plains, but with how they’ve been pitching and playing defense, they will be the frontrunners to remain at home with some pivotal wins coming up.

Here’s a breakdown of the Auburn regional as the Tigers look to defend their home diamond.

Auburn Regional

For the second straight season, Plainsman Park will be the home of an NCAA regional. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Location: Auburn, Ala. Venue: Plainsman Park (7,189)

Dates: May 29-June 1

Regional Opponents: Auburn (No. 4-overall seed, at-large bid), UCF (at-large bid), NC State (at-large bid), Milwaukee (Horizon League champion)

Records: Auburn, 38-19, UCF, 31-21, NC State, 32-22, Milwaukee, 25-31

Auburn Regional Schedule and Results

Friday’s Games

Game 1: Auburn vs. Milwaukee, noon CST on ESPN+

Game 2: UCF vs. NC State, 5 p.m. CST on ESPNU

Saturday’s Games

Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, TBA (elimination game)

Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, TBA (advances to Sunday’s final)

Sunday’s Games

Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser (elimination game)

Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Monday’s Game

Game 7: Rematch of Game 6 (if both teams have losses, and if necessary)

(Times subject to change for TV purposes)

Bracket Breakdown

Auburn

The Tigers are the No. 1 seed in the regional, and if they win their bracket, they will host a super regional next weekend for a spot in Omaha for the College World Series.

Auburn fell to Arkansas in the SEC Tournament semifinal, but had two strong wins over LSU and Texas A&M that propelled the Tigers to the spot that they are in. Coming out of the regular season, they won six of their last seven series and had the toughest strength of schedule in the entire country.

Thompson’s group has some of the best pitching in the country, and it will have to be at its best if the Tigers want to keep their season alive after this weekend.

Auburn’s Easiest Path to a Title? The Tigers should take care of business with Milwaukee, and NC State would be the easier opponent on Saturday. UCF brings great quality to the mound, but if the bats are hot for Auburn, it should be a successful weekend at Plainsman Park.

UCF

The UCF Knights are in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons. | Nadia Zomorodian/News-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Knights had a rocky start to the season, beginning the year 5-5 before rattling off four straight series wins inside the Big 12. However, in the month of May, UCF has a .500 record and only played one game in the conference tournament, which was a loss to Oklahoma State.

Rich Wallace’s group has a pitching rotation that is 24th in the country in ERA at 4.37, and those arms have helped him win games through its defense or run ruling alone. UCF is also 2-4 in games that go to extra innings, and sometimes the bats can go cold for the Knights, although they did have the 21st-strongest strength of schedule in the country.

The team hits at a .292 batting average, although it averages only one home run per game. How the Knights hit with runners in scoring position could be the deciding factor in whether their season ends this weekend.

When Could Auburn Face Them? Thompson’s group could see them multiple times this weekend, and Saturday could be the first time that happens. If both teams win on Friday, that would end up being the case.

NC State

The No. 3 seed in the regional, NC State, opened the year 14-2. However, once the Wolfpack saw ACC play, it began getting difficult for Elliott Avent’s group. The program won only three series in conference play, then was blown out by low-seed Duke in the ACC Tournament, 21-12.

While the Wolfpack’s offense is top 30 in runs per game at 8.2 and a batting average of .307, which is 25th, the team's below-average pitching levels it. NC State is outside the top 100 in ERA (5.64), walks per nine innings (4.88) and is 274th in the country in home runs allowed per nine innings at 1.44 a game. It is one of the best defensive teams in the country; however,r not giving up many errors a game.

Avent is also retiring at the end of the season, and for a manager with 30 years of experience under his belt with the program, the Wolfpack will go down swinging for their leader.

Can NC State Upset Auburn? Stranger things have happened, but the Wolfpack are 5-11 against Q1 opponents. In those wins, NC State had great pitching outings and played exceptional defense. However, Auburn’s just as good on the mound, perhaps on its worst days as well.

Milwaukee

For the first time in 16 years, the Panthers are back in the NCAA Tournament, going on a seven-game winning streak to get an automatic qualifying bid. However, Shaun Wagner’s group is 5-22 against Quad 1-3 opponents, and the Panthers struggled against top talent.

To begin the year, Milwaukee was run-ruled by LSU and Duke in four out of the six games, although getting one back on the Blue Devils after that stretch. Out of the 12 Power Four games the Panthers played, they allowed double-digit runs in half of them.

Their collective ERA is 6.99, 232nd in the country, with a lot of the other pitching numbers in that range as well. However, Wagner’s group averages about 6.6 runs per game, and that will have to be inflated if Milwaukee wants to pick up a win in the NCAA Tournament.

Does Milwaukee Have a Chance? It will be difficult with the way that Auburn pitched in the SEC Tournament, only allowing three runs in three games collectively. However, it is baseball, and stranger things have happened, but the Tigers didn’t drop games to opponents like these in the regular season.

Add us as a preferred source on Google