Auburn baseball is eliminated from NCAA regional after loss against Southern Miss

On Sunday evening -- or possibly Monday-- a team will be advancing to a Super Regional at Plainsman Park, but it won’t be the Auburn Tigers. The Tigers saw their season come to an end with a 7-2 loss in Saturday’s elimination game against Southern Miss.

Auburn had little time to rebound following Friday night’s extra-innings loss to Penn. While the Tigers will be home, Southern Miss will face the loser of Saturday night’s Penn vs. Samford game at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Pitcher Tommy Vail got the start for the Tigers, who had been rolling; he entered the contest with Auburn winning 14 of the last 16 games he’s pitched.

“He’s a fighter for us,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “We would not have been able to be here without Tommy Vail.”

Southern Miss first baseman Christopher Sargent bucked the trend with a three-run bomb that sailed over the right field fence.

Sargent’s homer seemed to be a sign of things to come, considering that Vail entered the contest, allowing three home runs in 65 innings pitched this season. Vail hadn’t given up a home run since April 7, when he gave up two against Texas A&M.

Dustin Dickerson led off the third inning with a home run putting Southern Miss ahead 4-0, with Auburn only having one hit off Southern Miss starter Billy Oldham. Dickerson hit his second home run of the game and the third for Southern Miss against Vail.

“They got three good swings off on him,” Thompson said. “I thought he hung in there pretty well considering the circumstances that everyone doesn’t know. We could tell after that home run in the first inning we knew the park wouldn’t hold much.”

Auburn (34-23-1) made it interesting in the sixth with two runs. Chris Stanfield and Cooper McMurray had RBI singles, but the rally stopped short on a diving play by Southern Miss infielder Dickerson on a hard-hit ball by Kason Howell with runners on first and third.

The sixth inning ended summed up Auburn’s (brief) home regional appearance. Bryson Ware broke Auburn’s single-season home run record during the SEC Tournament. His 24 homers were a factor in Auburn hosting a Regional, with the team finishing the season 12-3 in SEC games. He took a moment to reflect on his journey after the loss.

“Being able to play in front of these fans is something I’ll hang my hat on for years to come,” Ware said.“I’m happy that I was a part of that and could contribute. It’s a cool memory I’ll cherish for a long time.”

There were opportunities for the Tigers to score runs on offense and limit damage on defense. The final chapter of the 2023 season closed for Auburn, with the game ending on a Cole Foster pop-up with runners on first and second.

Auburn left 11 runners on base, including six in the last three innings.

“I really felt like we were one or two swings away,” Thompson said. “I didn’t think our approach started improving until today’s sixth inning.”

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn athletics for AL.com.