Two wins and what’s arguably the most talented team Auburn has produced stands between Ole Miss and its first trip back to Omaha since winning the national championship in 2022.
Getting two wins isn’t the hard part, though. It’s getting the two wins against an Auburn team that does a lot of things really well, and hardly anything not well is the challenge.
The Auburn NCAA Super Regional is set to begin Friday night at the Tigers home ballpark and is the most important game of the series.
In the super regional era of college baseball (1999 to present), teams that advance to the College World Series won the first game of the NCAA Super Regional 78.8% of the time. Last year, six of the eight teams to go to Omaha won the first game of its super regional.
That means whoever wins Friday night’s game at Plainsman Park is likely going to be headed Omaha where anything can happen. Here’s everything to know about Friday night’s game between the Rebels and Tigers.
The Opponent: Auburn
Butch Thompson has Auburn back in familiar territory. This is the Tigers’ fifth Super Regional since 2017 and their second straight year hosting. Thompson has already taken Auburn to Omaha twice, in 2019 and 2022, and he’s got this group sitting at 42-20 heading into the weekend.
The path here wasn’t smooth. Auburn dropped its regional opener to Milwaukee, then had to play with its season on the line the rest of the way. It responded with a 17-run outburst against NC State, handled UCF the next day, and then beat Milwaukee twice to move on. It wasn’t pretty, but it was enough.
Auburn’s identity starts on the mound. The Tigers own a 3.62 team ERA, the best mark in the SEC and one of the top numbers in the country. Four of their qualifying pitchers sit inside the league’s top 10 in ERA, with sophomore left-hander Jackson Sanders leading the way at 2.63. They don’t give away many free bases either, posting the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the nation at 3.75. Jake Marciano has punched out 108 hitters, and Andreas Alvarez is right behind him with 103.
Offensively, the power comes from Chase Fralick and Ethin Bingaman, who have combined for 35 home runs. Fralick’s 20 homers rank ninth in the SEC, and both players are hitting above .320. Chris Rembert has been the steadiest bat in the lineup with a .345 average. Rembert, Fralick and Eric Guevara have all cleared 70 hits on the year, and each has reached double digits in doubles. Fralick leads the team with 18, which sits seventh in the conference.
Team Comparison
| Ole Miss | STAT | Auburn |
|---|---|---|
| 39-21 | Overall Record | 42-20 |
| 15-15 | Conference Record | 17-13 |
| 13 | RPI | 5 |
| 4 | Strength of Schedule | 1 |
| BATTING | ||
| .265 | Batting Average | .297 |
| .854 | OPS | .874 |
| 411 | Runs | 437 |
| 519 | Hits | 612 |
| 86 | Doubles | 106 |
| 1 | Triples | 5 |
| 103 | Home Runs | 89 |
| 916 | Total Bases | 995 |
| .468 | Slugging % | .482 |
| 327 | Walks | 266 |
| 75 | Hit By Pitch | 75 |
| 635 | Strikeouts | 474 |
| .386 | On-Base % | .392 |
| 49 | Stolen Bases | 82 |
| PITCHING | ||
| 4.40 | ERA | 3.62 |
| 1.32 | WHIP | 1.19 |
| 672 | Strikeouts | 623 |
| 201 | Walks Allowed | 166 |
| 491 | Hits Allowed | 463 |
| .246 | Opp. Batting Average | .233 |
| 81 | HR Allowed | 60 |
| 524 | Innings Pitched | 530 |
Starting Pitchers
LHP Hunter Elliott vs. RHP Andreas Alvarez
- Elliott: 5-3, 5.21 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 76 IP, 73 H, 47 R, 44 ER, 38 BB, 100 SO, .253 Opp. BA, 5 WP, 14 HBP
- Alvarez: 10-3, 3.52 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 79.1 IP, 71 H, 41 R, 31 ER, 30 BB, 103 SO, .237 Opp. BA, 9 WP, 5 HBP
Batting Leaders
Ole Miss
- Tristan Bissetta: .281/.618/.391, 1.009 OPS, 54 R, 64 H, 11 2B, 22 HR, 60 RBI, 37 BB, 82 SO, 8 SB
- Dom Decker: .273/.435/.416, .851 OPS, 60 R, 59 H, 5 2B, 10 HR, 33 RBI, 50 BB, 45 SO, 13 SB
- Hayden Federico: .300/.405/.422, .827 OPS, 35 R, 57 H, 8 2B, 4 HR, 28 RBI, 32 BB, 31 SO, 5 SB
- Will Furniss: .319/.472/.433, .905 OPS, 43 R, 69 H, 12 2B, 7 HR, 54 RBI, 38 BB, 52 SO
- Judd Utermark: .308/.634/.421, 1.055 OPS, 70 R, 70 H, 11 2B, 21 HR, 49 RBI, 38 BB, 77 SO, 11 SB
Auburn
- Ethin Bingaman: .335/.597/.423, 1.020 OPS, 59 R, 69 H, 9 2B, 15 HR, 50 RBI, 28 BB, 37 K, 5 SB
- Chase Fralick: .321/.662/.423, 1.085 OPS, 52 R, 75 H, 18 2B, 1 3B, 20 HR, 60 RBI, 32 BB, 47 K, 1 SB
- Eric Guevara: .325/.543/.401, .944 OPS, 50 R, 76 H, 12 2B, 13 HR, 55 RBI, 23 BB, 11 HBP, 47 K, 4 SB
- Brandon McCraine: .327/.405/.416, .821 OPS, 38 R, 67 H, 11 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 29 RBI, 29 BB, 5 HBP, 43 K, 18 SB
- Chris Rembert: .345/.465/.398, .862 OPS, 36 R, 78 H, 13 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 45 RBI, 17 BB, 38 K, 12 SB
Weather Forecast
Ole Miss and Auburn continue to get improved weather reports for this weekend’s super regional. Sunday was the only day that had a chance of rain and the latest forecast from the National Weather Service has pushed that chance of rain to Monday. That means the Rebels and Tigers should have ideal weather conditions this weekend.
Friday’s forecast is “mostly sunny, with a high near 85. Southeast wind around 5 mph,” during the day and “Mostly clear, with a low around 64. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm” as the sun begins to set.
How to Watch: Auburn Super Regional
- Who: Ole Miss Rebels (39-21) at Auburn Tigers (42-20)
- When: 7 p.m. Friday
- Where: Plainsman Park, Auburn, Ala.
- TV: ESPN2
- Radio: Live Radio
- Stats: Live Stats
- Series History: Ole Miss leads the all-time series 102-94
- Last Meeting: Ole Miss won 2025 weekend series 2-1 (9-2, 15-11, 8-13)
- Last time out, Rebels: def. Arizona State, 5-4 (10 innings)
- Last time out, Tigers: def. Milwaukee, 8-3
Odds, Spread, Totals
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
Spread
- Ole Miss: +1.5
- Auburn: -1.5
Moneyline
- Ole Miss: +144
- Auburn: -186
Total
- Over: 9.5 (-113)
- Under: 9.5 (-115)
