AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Cole Foster hit three home runs, two of them in the first inning from both sides of the plate, driving in nine runs to power No. 14 overall seed Auburn to a 19-7 victory over Southeastern Louisiana in the Auburn Regional on Friday.
Auburn (38-19) advances to play Florida State on Saturday. Southeastern Louisiana (30-30) will play an elimination game against UCLA earlier Saturday.
Foster and Bobby Peirce hit two-run homers, Foster drilled a grand slam his second time up and Sonny DiChiara followed with a solo shot to cap an 11-run first inning. Nate LaRue hit solo homers in the second and sixth innings. Foster’s third homer was a three-run shot in the fourth that gave the Tigers a 16-4 lead. Foster added a double, going 4-for-6.
Leadoff batter Blake Rambush had three hits and scored three runs for Auburn. DiChiara and Mike Bello also had three hits.
Tyler Finke hit a solo homer to get the Lions on the scoreboard in the second inning. Evan Keller and Tristan Welch had two hits apiece. Keller had a two-run double in the eighth.
Trace Bright (4-4) allowed four runs on six hits in five innings to get the win. He struck out 10 and walked two.
Adam Guth (4-2) surrendered eight runs on six hits and a walk without retiring a batter in a start for the Lions.
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