05/30 at 11:28 PM

The Auburn baseball team has attacked its list of goals with an expedited pace over the past few weeks.

First, Auburn clinched its first SEC Tournament appearance since 2003. Next, the Tigers, thanks to a 12-3 finish to conference play, wrapped up their first SEC West crown since 1995. On Thursday, Auburn won its first playoff game since 2005.

Now, as announced Sunday, the Tigers are one of 16 teams to host an NCAA regional this weekend, marking just the fourth time in program history that playoff baseball will take place in Auburn.

“It’s a tribute to what these guys have done on the field,” second-year coach John Pawlowski said. “They know it’s going to be a great challenge, but one they feel they deserved.”

The Tigers will find out today which three teams will be joining them for the four-team, double-elimination tournament, which is set to begin Friday at 2 p.m and could run as long as Monday. Fans are invited to join the team at 11 a.m. at Loco’s Deli, 1120 S. College St. in Auburn, to watch the NCAA Tournament selection show.

The tournament will include 64 teams from across the country. The top eight national seeds, which will also be unveiled today, will host a Super Regional the following week if they win their regionals this weekend. The bracket will be set through the Super Regionals and will not be re-seeded once play begins.

Even if Auburn is not among the top eight, it could still host a Super Regional if its regional pairing’s top seed is upset.

“We know we’re going to get three tough teams here,” Pawlowski said. “There’s a lot of good quality teams out there who put in to host and were unfortunate not to get one. I’m sure this tournament will be a tough tournament as always.”

Tickets for the regional can be purchased online at autigertickets.com. The ticket office will open Tuesday at 8 a.m. All-session reserved seats are $75, all-session terrace tickets are $50 and students can purchase all-session tickets for $25.

Current Auburn season ticket holders can purchase their same seats, based on availability. Auburn is not able to guarantee the exact seat location because it is an NCAA event.

Game times are set for 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Sunday and 6 p.m. on Monday (if necessary).

“We encourage the Auburn fans to come out and pack the park,” Pawlowski said. “Hopefully that will continue to give our kids more confidence.”

Auburn’s 40-win season was its first since 2003 and the 11th in program history. The Tigers are a consensus top-15 team in the nation according to the three major collegiate baseball polls and their RPI of 14 was better than a number of other teams that were also selected as host sites.

In Pawlowski’s first season, the Tigers won 31 games but did not qualify for either the SEC Tournament or NCAA Tournament after finishing 11-19 in SEC play. Auburn’s lineup and pitching staff in 2010 isn’t much different from last year’s, but Pawlowski said the presence of 16 upperclassmen paid dividends down the stretch.

“Going into Arkansas and going into Ole Miss, those are two tough environments and we played really well there,” Pawlowski said of the Tigers’ two final road series of the season, in which they went 5-1 against the second- and third-place Western division teams.

“That helped boost our confidence level.”

Auburn was one of four SEC teams selected to host a regional. Florida, Arkansas and South Carolina were the others.

The other host teams are Arizona State (47-8), Cal State Fullerton (40-15), Coastal Carolina (51-7), Connecticut (47-14), Georgia Tech (45-13), Louisville (48-12), Miami, Fla. (40-17), Oklahoma (44-15), Texas (46-11), TCU (46-11), UCLA (42-13) and Virginia (47-11).

Auburn, ranked at the top of most offensive categories in the SEC, took advantage of hitter-friendly Plainsman Park this season, going 27-7. It went 13-12 on the road or at neutral sites.

“Anytime you’re playing at home, it helps,” Pawlowski said. “It’s a great accomplishment for these kids and our program.”

The Tigers did not play their best baseball at the SEC Tournament, losing two of their three games and combining for just 11 runs.

“I think it was a great experience,” Pawlowski said. “I think it will help them realize that we have to play at a higher level.”

Fletcher, Mummey take swings
Leftfielder Brian Fletcher (hand) and centerfielder Trent Mummey (hamstring) are both expected to be ready for Friday’s regional, Pawlowski said.

Both players took swings at Sunday’s practice, Pawlowski said. Mummey, though, is still limited on running.

“I feel good about itm but any time you have any type of injuries you never know what’s going to happen,” Pawlowski said. “They want to be in there so I know they’ll do everything they possibly can to play Friday.”

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