AUBURN, Ala. – Coming off its first appearance in the College World Series in 22 years, Auburn baseball has been ranked a consensus top-10 team in the final polls announced Thursday.
The Tigers checked in as high as No. 8 in the Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA polls, which is tied for the third highest final ranking in program history. The team was also ranked No. 9 by Baseball America, D1 Baseball, Perfect Game and USA Today.
It marks the second straight year the Tigers have ended the season ranked inside the top 10, marking the first time since 1997-98 and the third time in program history to accomplish the feat in back-to-back seasons.
Auburn (38-28) punched its ticket to Omaha by sweeping its way through the Atlanta Regional hosted by No. 3 Georgia Tech before becoming the first team to take down No. 14 North Carolina in a Chapel Hill Super Regional.
The Tigers became the fifth team in program history to advance to the College World Series – joining the 1967, 1976, 1994 and 1997 squads.
Steven Williams hit a three-run, walk-off home run with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Tigers over the Yellow Jackets and into its third straight regional final. A week later, the Tigers put up 13 runs in the first inning of a winner-take-all game three against the Tar Heels and celebrated a trip to the College World Series a few hours later.
In four seasons under head coach Butch Thompson, Auburn made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 2001-03 and has been to back-to-back super regionals for the first time in program history.
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For more information, contact George Nunnelley