UCF vs Auburn final score, highlights from NCAA baseball game – Daytona Beach News-Journal

To stay alive in the NCAA baseball tournament, the UCF Knights needed to tackle the Auburn Regional’s top seed.
Their elimination game against the Auburn Tigers was set for 3 p.m. on May 31 at Plainsman Park. After three hours of weather delays before the first pitch, plus two other short ones in the early innings, the Tigers didn’t allow the upset. They won 9-3 and advanced to the region finals against fourth-seeded Milwaukee.
The loss closed UCF’s campaign at 32-23. This was their second NCAA Tournament trip in three years since joining the Big 12 Conference.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal provided live updates throughout the game. Scroll down for a play-by-play recap.
Auburn is headed to the regional final, and UCF’s season is over.
Landon Moran mustered a one-out single in the top of the ninth, but Ryan Hetzler struck out the final two batters to end it.
Heyl is done after 11 pitches.
UCF turns to a right-hander, Braden Calise, to get it out of the jam without further damage. Either way, the Knights will have work to do in the ninth inning.
The Tigers tacked on another run when Chase Fralick was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. UCF challenged the result, but the review upheld the call on the field.
Auburn 9, Knights 3. Still two down with the bases juiced in the bottom of the eighth.
On Heyl’s fourth pitch, he threw a high fastball, and McCraine crushed it to right field. It hit off the wall for an RBI double.
The Tigers extended their lead to 8-3.
With two outs and runners on first and second in the bottom of the eighth, the Knights are going back to their bullpen.
Lefty pitcher Matthew Heyl is on to face lefty hitter Mason McCraine.
Ryan Hetzler breezed through the eighth inning, picking up back-to-back strikeouts of Andrew Williamson and Zak Skinner, to keep host Auburn ahead of UCF 7-3.
The Knights are down to their final three outs, needing a fairly miraculous rally to reach its sixth regional final in program history.
Chase Fralick smashed Auburn’s sixth solo home run of the game off Matt Sauser, giving the Tigers a 7-3 lead over UCF. Auburn has scored at least once in each of the last five innings after spotting the Knights an early 2-0 lead with elimination on the line.
UCF is running out of time, and running out of outs, the Auburn Regional.
The Knights went down in order against reliever Ryan Hetzler, and trail Auburn 6-3 at the seventh-inning stretch. Five of Auburn’s seven hits have left the ballpark, including a pair of sixth-inning solo shots.
Taylor Belza cleared the batter’s eye in dead center with a 420-foot moonshot, extending Auburn’s lead over UCF to 6-3 with two down in the sixth inning.
Auburn is 31-2 this season when leading after six. Ryan Hetzler will take over on the mound for Alex Petrovic, who threw a career-high 108 pitches and struck out six Knights.
Auburn answered UCF’s solo home run in the sixth inning with one of its own.
Cade Belyeu belted his third longball in two days over the right field well, giving Auburn a 5-3 lead. The Tigers have launched 12 homers in regional play, their highest total since 2010.
Zak Skinner mashed a leadoff home run off the scoreboard in left center, pulling UCF within a run in the sixth inning. UCF trails Auburn 4-3 on Skinner’s sixth homer of the season.
Chris Rembert brought home a run with a sacrifice fly to deep right field, but UCF reliever Anthony Lariz stranded Auburn’s other two runners with a strikeout of Bub Terrell to end the fifth inning. The No. 4 Tigers lead UCF 4-2.
Roman Kimball exits the game after 89 pitches with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth inning. Auburn is threatening to increase its 3-2 lead over UCF.
Kimball allowed three solo home runs but recorded a career-high seven strikeouts. Redshirt freshman Anthony Lariz enters in a pivotal spot, hoping to keep the Knights within a run.
Alex Petrovic recorded his third consecutive scoreless inning, navigating the top of UCF’s lineup in the fifth. Auburn leads the Knights 3-2 in an elimination game.
DeAmez Ross, who was 2 for 2 with a home run and an RBI infield single, came up just short of his second longball of the night. Following a John Smith III swinging strikeout, Andrew Williamson was retired by a step on a slow bouncer near second base.
Ethin Bingaman tied an Auburn record with his fourth home run in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament, a solo shot to dead center to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead over UCF in the fourth inning.
Auburn has three dingers in the game off Roman Kimball, and 11 in the regional thus far.
Chase Fralick has drawn Auburn level, crushing a solo home run off Roman Kimball to knot the score 2-2 with UCF. The Tigers mustered just one hit against Kimball the first time through the order.
Mason McCraine cracked a solo home run to right field, halving UCF’s lead over No. 4 Auburn. The Knights are up 2-1 with one out in the third.
Roman Kimball pitched around a leadoff single, a 28-minute weather delay and a walk to keep Auburn off the scoreboard in the second inning. UCF leads 2-0, courtesy of DeAmez Ross’ home run and RBI infield single.
UCF and Auburn have returned to their respective dugouts for yet another weather delay.
Auburn has a runner on second with one out, and Ethin Bingaman facing a full count against Knights starter Roman Kimball. UCF leads 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning.
John Smith grounded into an inning-ending, 5-3 double play, but UCF leads Auburn 2-0 going into the bottom of the second.
DeAmez Ross has two of the Knights’ three hits, and Roman Kimball worked a perfect inning on the mound.
DeAmez Ross has two hits and two RBIs in as many at-bats tonight, legging out an infield single with the bases loaded to put UCF ahead of Auburn 2-0.
The Knights still have the bases full with one out and both John Smith III and Andrew Williamson due up.
Roman Kimball punctuated a perfect first inning by striking out Chase Fralick on a high fastball, keeping UCF ahead of Auburn 1-0.
Play resumed after a 30-minute lightning delay.
Thirteen minutes, and four outs, into the game, and there is another weather delay at the Auburn Regional.
UCF leads 1-0 against Auburn with one out in the bottom of the first inning. The loser is eliminated, and the winner faces Milwaukee for a spot in super regionals.
Two pitches in, UCF has the lead against Auburn.
DeAmez Ross homered off Alex Petrovic on a 106 mph line drive over the right field wall. The Knights take a 1-0 advantage against the host Tigers.
Cade Belyeu denied UCF another run by tracking down a carrying fly ball at the wall in right center off the bat of Javier Crespo. Roman Kimball takes the mound for his sixth start of the season.
Let’s try this again.
UCF and Auburn are tentatively scheduled for a 6:06 p.m. first pitch at Plainsman Park, following three hours’ worth of a weather delay. The winner is scheduled to face Milwaukee later this evening.
Lightning in the area surrounding Plainsman Park will extend the delay prior to first pitch between UCF and Auburn. A new start time will be announced in the near future.
Weather permitting, tournament officials are targeting a 5:06 p.m. start time for the elimination game between UCF and Auburn.
It could be a lengthy delay before first pitch between UCF and Auburn.
The grounds crew rolled the tarp onto the infield as rain started to fall at Plainsman Park. No start time has been announced to this point, about 45 minutes after the game was due to begin.
First pitch will not arrive as scheduled at 3 p.m.
Eighteen minutes before then, a weather delay was announced at Plainsman Park. No new start time has been decided.
UCF vs. Auburn will stream on ESPN2. Mark Neely and Gregg Olson will call the game from Plainsman Park in Auburn. Streaming options include ESPN+ and Fubo, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.
How far will UCF go — Auburn Regional final. With its head coach, Elliott Avent, announcing plans to retire prior to the NCAA Tournament, and its somewhat controversial inclusion despite underwhelming credentials, N.C. State uses some of that us-against-the-world mentality to upset UCF in the opening game. However, the Knights will bounce back with a win over Milwaukee and then send the Wolfpack packing before falling to host Auburn. — Chris Boyle, Daytona Beach News-Journal
How far will UCF go — Auburn Regional final. The Knights have shown an ability to compete on the national stage. They reached No. 12 in the polls during the middle of the season and won seven of their 10 series in the Big 12. But Auburn’s pitching staff ranks fourth in the country with a 3.45 ERA. In a Regional, where every game is crucial, those arms are scary. — Chris Vinel, Daytona Beach News-Journal
Double elimination from Friday-Monday (May 29-June 1) at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Alabama:
Friday’s games
Saturday’s games
Sunday’s games
Monday’s game
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