Sam Dutton could hardly believe it.

After a six-pitch battle in which a couple borderline pitches didn’t go his way, Auburn’s ace thought he landed the big strike to send the Tigers out of the seventh inning. Instead, another pitch on the corner was called a ball, capping off a walk and leaving Dutton visibly upset.

That seemed to shift the energy of the moment, one in which Auburn led 7-3, but was now asked to do more work than it felt was necessary.

What followed was a misplayed ball in right field leading to a run and Dutton leaving the game before a single and hit by pitch loaded the bases as Auburn now only led by two.

The 69-degree crisp air inside Plainsman Park suddenly felt thin and stale, as the anxiety from Tiger fans roared louder than their eruptions from previous offensive surges.

When Ryan Hetzler came in to relieve Dutton, his first two actions were giving up a single that scored a run and hitting a batter to load the bases. But when Auburn was in the biggest jam of the night, Hetzler forced a ground ball, salvaging the inning and never letting Stetson back in.

Auburn won the game 8-5, advancing to Sunday’s regional championship game. However, it didn’t come without a battle, and what head coach Butch Thompson described as some “randomness” that decided the game.

“Amazing college baseball game,” Thomspon said. “That’s about all you need to write down.”

Hetzler picked up his eighth save of the season, but his poise to get out of multiple jams wasn’t the only key to Auburn holding off a Stetson team that never seemed to go away.

In the top of the seventh, right before Hetzler’s first escape act, Auburn was up 5-3 with two outs and two strikes, before freshman left fielder Bub Terrell delivered a big moment of his own.

After battling at the plate, Terrell skied a ball to left field that might have left the park in other places, but it bounced off the giant War Eagle Wall, scoring two runs and giving Auburn a four-run cushion that turned out to be crucial.

“I always like to fire my guys up,” Terrell said. “And the at-bat, I have been locked in since day one of regionals. I don’t feel like anyone can get a ball by me.”

Terrell finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate with two doubles and led the team in RBI with three. Auburn as a team finished with 12 hits as a team, keeping the bats hot into the NCAA tournament.

While Terrell’s moment set up Hetzler’s escape in the seventh, Ike Irish delivered for Auburn in the ninth to slam the door. The junior and star of the team blasted a solo home run to left-center field, giving the Tigers a much-needed insurance run to preserve the win.

Now, the Tigers are a game away from doing something never done before in program history: hosting a super regional at Plainsman Park.

And it might just take a little more randomness.

“It’s not going to be perfect,” Thompson said. “You just play as hard as you can and keep moving forward. And I think we did that again tonight.”

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports forAL.com. You can follow him on X at@peter_rauterkusor email him at[email protected]m