Longtime Auburn University sports broadcaster Rob Bramblett speaks at an alumni event in Dothan, Ala., on May 1.AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn Tigers are trying to secure a berth in the College World Series while coping with off-field tragedies.
Seeded No. 2 in the four-team regional at Georgia Tech last weekend, the Tigers swept through the double-elimination event with a 16-7 win against third-seeded Coastal Carolina - the 2015 CWS champion - and two wins against the host Yellow Jackets, who were seeded third overall in the 64-team NCAA tournament field. Auburn won 6-5 on Saturday with a walk-off home run by sophomore Steven Williams, then clinched a spot in the next round of the postseason by topping the Jackets 4-1 on Sunday.
Auburn (36-25) now turns its attention to No. 14 seed North Carolina (45-17), which hosts one of 16 super regionals with eight winners advancing to the CWS in Omaha, Nebraska. The best-of-three series in Chapel Hill starts Saturday with a noon game, with Sunday's game at 11:30 a.m. If necessary, a third game would be at 1 p.m. Monday.
Coach Butch Thompson's Tigers celebrated earning a second straight trip to super regionals amid some tough times on and off the field.
Longtime Auburn sports broadcaster Rod Bramblett and his wife, Paula, were killed after being involved in a car wreck on May 25. Five days before the Brambletts' deaths, Auburn police officer William Buechner - a baseball season-ticket holder - was killed and two other officers wounded while reporting to a domestic disturbance.
Williams reflected this week on Bramblett not being around to broadcast his heroics.
"In the postgame interview room, Coach Thompson said every Auburn fan was just hearing Rod's voice saying it," Williams said. "I saw a Facebook post of what he would have said, probably, and I could just hear him saying it. Definitely, I wish he would have been there to do it, but I'm glad I could give that moment to the Auburn family."
Bramblett was better known for his calls of Auburn football and basketball games but had done play-by-play for Auburn baseball games for even longer, starting in 1993. He called the games for the baseball Tigers this year as they dealt with injuries, a slump late in the regular season and an underwhelming 1-2 showing at the Southeastern Conference tournament, with the Tigers exiting in Hoover, Alabama two days before Bramblett's death.
Last weekend, Auburn players wore stickers on their batting helmets with a microphone between Bramblett's initials above the phrase "Forever Auburn."
Thompson doesn't think he has truly dealt with the emotional void left behind by the Brambletts. The coach left straight from a private memorial service for the regional at Georgia Tech. Seeing the suit - something he rarely takes on a baseball trip - he had worn to the service later on the team bus was "the most heartbroken I've been."
He said the games have been a needed diversion.
"Probably another blessing of us still playing baseball," Thompson said, "is allowing us to let it sink in slowly instead of hitting us right between our eyes."
He's not trying to make this a "win-for-Rod" moment, though, believing that would be a disservice to Bramblett. Thompson frequently huddled with him at practices, and players remember seeing Bramblett lost in his headphones and microphone on the team bus while prepping for the next broadcast.
"I just want to make sure that we honor them and that we're not using Rod and Paula to try to win a baseball game," Thompson said. "We want them with us and to honor them and the children (Shelby and Joshua) that are still here.
"In the same way, I want to make sure I'm a respectful coach, because your season's still going on. We're only honoring him. We're not trying to use his name to get one more base hit or one more magical moment. They're with us, and I'll take whatever happens with our ballclub."
What happened last weekend was somewhat surprising.
Williams, who is batting just .241 after a big freshman season, hit the three-run homer to beat Georgia Tech on Saturday and had a total of 10 RBIs in Atlanta.
The Tigers' on-field concerns have included injuries to pitchers Tanner Burns, Davis Daniel and Jack Owen. Daniel, a seventh-round pick of the Los Angeles Angels this week, hasn't pitched in a game since an elbow injury on opening night.
Auburn, which doesn't have a hitter among the SEC's top 46 in batting average, was unceremoniously ousted from the league tournament. Seeded eighth in Hoover, the Tigers beat ninth-seeded Tennessee 5-3 in the single-elimination first round, then fell 11-1 to eventual league champion Vanderbilt and lost 4-3 to fifth-seeded LSU, which scored the tying and winning runs after a wild pitch and throwing error in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Auburn also lost three of its last four SEC regular-season series.
Then came the community's jarring losses of the Brambletts and Buechner - and a resurgence for the team.
"We're definitely playing right now," Williams said, "for something bigger than ourselves."