AUBURN, Ala. — Stetson made multiple pushes to climb back into the game but ultimately came up short in an 8-5 battle against No. 4 Auburn on Saturday night at Plainsman Park.

Trailing early, the Hatters showed resilience throughout a game that felt worthy of a championship stage.

"You know, obviously we're on the wrong end of that one, we wanted that one for the Stetson Hatters tonight," said Head Coach Steve Trimper. "But I think Coach Thompson would agree with me when he comes in and does his conference, that was one hell of a ball game. That was a great fight by both teams. Two really, really good ball clubs. It's almost one of those in my career that it was a shame someone had to lose."

Auburn jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning, capitalizing on a quick start at the plate. "Their hitters, they really did a good job of seeing James Hays up and jumped for four runs," Trimper added. "That would've been a time that the normal team could have quit or put their heads down, and you saw us kind of claw back in."

Stetson's response began in the third when Evan Griffis came around to score the Hatters' first run. RBI singles from Jordan Taylor and Landon Russell in the fourth closed the gap to 4-3. After Auburn extended the lead, Isaiah Barkett came through once again, driving in a pair including his fourth double of the weekend to make it 7-5 in the seventh.

"You know, we were just trying to change the momentum," Trimper said. "Some people might say, 'Why'd you bunt?' We're just trying to get back and flip momentum our way. There's not many teams in the country that are playing in a game like this right now."

Junior Lorenzo Meola led the Hatters at the plate with a three-hit night, while Barkett and Taylor each added two hits to power Stetson's 12-hit attack.

Sophomore James Hays (4-1) took the loss, but senior Ty Van Dyke provided a critical lift out of the bullpen, tossing four strong innings with six strikeouts. "We brought Ty in — obviously he's our closer and he's done All-American work this year — big time work," Trimper said. "We brought him in as early as we thought we could, just to hold the game and lock horns with their bullpen."

In the end, Auburn tacked on an insurance run late and held on, but the Hatters' effort didn't go unnoticed.

"I'm so proud of our guys — goosebump proud," said Trimper. "How hard we fought all night long in an unbelievable atmosphere, a Super Regional atmosphere. I mean, this was A-plus, ten out of ten. The way the fans came out and witnessed a really good ball game."

Stetson (41-21) will return to action on Sunday in a win-or-go-home elimination game against NC State. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM CT / 3:00 PM ET, with the winner advancing to face Auburn in the Regional Final.