2026 NCAA Tournament Preview: Auburn Regional

The 2026 NCAA Tournament begins on Friday, May 29. Here is World Baseball Network’s preview of the Morgantown regional.

Auburn Regional – Plainsman Park, Auburn, Alabama

No. 1 Auburn Tigers (38-19, 17-13 SEC) – N0. 4 National Seed

Auburn got bounced from the SEC Tournament with a 2-1 loss in the semifinal to Arkansas, but still managed to earn the No. 4 national seed based on the RPI, where they rank No. 3. They’ve played a lot of high-quality competition this year, having compiled a 17-18 record against the top 25% of college baseball, a key component of the RPI ranking, and they’re 21-1 against teams in the other 75%.

The Tigers have four players in the lineup – Eric Guevara, Chase Fralic, Chris Rembert, Bub Terrell and Ethan Bingaman,- who’ve started at least 50 games, batted over .300, have at least 40 RBIs and an OPS over .900 this season – a powerful offense in any league, but especially notable when they did it in the SEC. The team’s batting leader, Brandon McCraine, hit .347, and the only regular starter with a batting average under .300 is Bristol Carter, hitting .299 for the season.

Expect sophomore starter Jake Marciano, a Bayville, N.J. native, to make a start in the region, along with redshirt sophomore Alex Petrovic and either Jackson Sanders or Andreas Alvarez in a third game, with the other starting the if-needed fourth game. Marciano threw 81 2/3 innings this season over 15 starts, posting a 2.65 ERA with a 0.970 WHIP and an impressive 100 strikeouts against just 17 walks, so perhaps he’ll be saved for an elimination game, or to matchup with UCF or NC State.

No. 2 UCF Knights (31-21, 19-11 Big 12)

The Knights strung together a respectable season despite exiting the Big 12 Tournament after a quarterfinal loss to Oklahoma State, though they did have some bad losses over the course of the season, including an 8-4 loss to Stetson (RPI – 203) on March 24, a 5-4, 11-inning loss to Jacksonville (RPI – 129) on April 14, and a 6-5 loss to Florida Atlantic (RPI – 127) on May 5.

Andrew Williamson (12 HR, 41 RBIs) and John Smith III (12 HR, 49 RBIs) provide the power in the lineup, and Williamson, Zac Skinner, and Javier Crespo all get on base at better than a .400 clip.

The pitching is a weakness for the Knights – Matt Sauser, the only regular starter with an ERA under 3.50, hasn’t played since throwing one inning in a 12-4 win at Utah on April 25, and the other starter with an ERA under 4.00, Joey Trombley, hasn’t pitched since March. Camden Wicker (4.00 ERA, 1.100 WHIP, 72 IP, 61K, 27BB) will likely get the nod against NC State.

No. 3 NC State (32-22, 14-16 ACC)

Head Coach Elliott Avent will bid farewell to college baseball after 30 seasons, and you have to wonder if that played into the committee’s thinking in putting the Wolfpack in the tournament, given their No. 51 RPI ranking. They lost games to three teams in the bottom 25%, falling to Princeton (RPI – 243), Lafayette (RPI – 285), and Elon (RPI – 234), and lost six of 10 ACC series.

Ty Head hit 14 homers and drove in 48 runs for the Wolfpack, and four others – Luke Nixon, Mikey Ryan, Sherman Johnson, and Chris McHugh – each have nine homers, and Nixon, Johnson, and McHugh all have more than 40 RBIs, so the offense is solid.

The three pitchers with the most starts – Cooper Consiglio (10), Heath Andrews (13), and Luke Hemric (11) – all have ERA’s above 5.50. Jacob Dudan and Anderson Nance are solid relievers, but there’s not a lot of depth to the remainder of the pitching staff.

No. 4 Milwaukee (25-31)

That Milwaukee is even in the tournament is something of a miracle, considering they started the season 6-25 from Feb. 13 through April 3, but they ended the season on a seven-game winning streak and beat Wright State twice in a row to win the Horizon League tournament. The Panthers are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 16 years.

2026 Auburn Regional Schedule
Fri. May 29 – No. 1 Auburn (38-19) vs. No. 4 Milwaukee (25-31) – 1 p.m. – ESPN+
Fri. May 29 – No. 2 UCF (31-21) vs. No. 3 NC State (32-22) – 6 p.m. – ESPNU

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PHOTO:  Brandon McCraine leads Auburn with a .347 batting average this season. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)