What Went Wrong for Auburn Tigers in Loss Against Milwaukee in NCAA Regional

Friday began in excitement for the Auburn Tigers, looking to get another stab at a shot to Omaha to play in the College World Series in 2026.

At the end of the day, head coach Butch Thompson and his team are now staring at four straight wins being the only way for that dream to stay alive. It comes after a 13-8 loss to Milwaukee, the bottom seed, in the bracket at Plainsman Park.

So, how did we get here? To put it simply, Auburn’s arms weren’t good enough. The Panthers recorded 16 hits on eight total Tiger pitchers, nearing using the entire bullpen.

“Milwaukee was superior offensively in their at-bats for nine innings,” Thompson said after the game. “That was the difference in the game. They had four runs on the first 16 pitches. We couldn’t slow them down today.

Even with ace Jake Marciano on the mound, Milwaukee took advantage of early counts in the first inning to get on base. After three singles, Braydn Horn took the top off the sophomore with a three-run shot to take an early 4-0 lead.

Meanwhile, the Tigers couldn’t respond and went out in order.

Marciano’s day ended in the second inning with no outs, only throwing 29 pitches and allowing six runs off of eight hits. That was the shortest outing that he’s had in an Auburn uniform, as well as total pitches in a start, while allowing the most earned runs this season.

In relief, top reliever L.J. Cormier fell victim to the Panther bats as well. He allowed another four runs of his own while eating up innings for Marciano.

Auburn entered the game as one of the best pitching teams in the country, one that is third in earned run average. Frankly, that wasn’t the case on Friday afternoon, and Thompson knows his arms have to be better for the remainder of the weekend that will be filled with adversity.

“This is like our SEC Tournament,” the Auburn head coach said. “We turned this immediately into the SEC Tournament, and a single elimination, so I really want to see our best here, and was expecting that today.”

The Tigers’ bats came alive at the beginning of the fourth inning, only recording a hit through the first third of the game. Half of Auburn’s runs came from the bat of third baseman Eric Guevara, highlighted by a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

However, at that point, Milwaukee had already hung 11 runs on Auburn at home, and that was the difference maker in the junior’s eyes. A lightning delay also took away momentum of scoring five runs in the fourth and fifth inning.

“There is nothing we can do about it; we were trying to have good at-bats,” Guevara said after the game. “They stopped us the first couple innings, and we started having good at-bats, but like coach Thompson said, their at-bats, as a whole, were more complete.”

Fortunately, Auburn has experienced three series where this occurred in the regular season. The Tigers lost their opening game against Nebraska, Florida and Mississippi State, respectively, and ended up winning each series. Thompson said that his group does a good job of responding after losses, not prone to allowing back-to-back losses often.

Only this time, if that occurs, Auburn’s season would be wrapped up. A strong Saturday showing against either NC State or UCF will be critical to begin the Tigers’ response.

“Having to win four games in a row now, and every pitcher pitched today, including the first two,” Thompson said. “If we could get through tomorrow, and have the chance as early as Sunday, where every pitcher that we put out there today could come back and factor in and try to right the ship tomorrow and win a baseball game.”

In a team full of young players, Guevara, a junior, knows the opportunity the team has at hand: a super regional spot if the Tigers run the table. If they do it, momentum could carry them all the way to Omaha.

“We have seniors on the team, and some careers are going to be over, and it’s a wake-up call to other guys,” he said. “We have another game tomorrow, and we can still do something really special here at home.”

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