RALEIGH, N.C. -- Port Elizabeth, South Africa, sits on the southeastern corner of the African continent, right on the line that divides the Atlantic Ocean from the Indian Ocean. From its ports, boats go south into those waters to see whales and seabirds. From its streets, safari trucks roll north into South Africa's nature preserves to see elephants and lions.

Auburn University sits in the Southeastern Conference of the United States, right on the line that divides the states of Alabama and Georgia. From its streets, pickup trucks roll across the region known as The Plains to see crimson elephants and orange tigers.

The distance between the two towns is 13,727 kilometers. It spans seven time zones. The flight takes nearly two days, with stops in Atlanta, London and Cape Town. Those dots are not easy to connect. Just ask the guy who does it on a pretty regular basis.

"Yeah, that trip will kick your butt," says Auburn infielder Brendan Venter. "But it's worth it."

Auburn coach Butch Thompson says Brendan Venter "just doesn't get rattled." Auburn Athletics

Venter, who started at third base for the Auburn Tigers over the weekend as his team won the Raleigh Regional of the NCAA men's baseball tournament, was born in Port Elizabeth. His grandparents are still there. (No, he's not related to the South African rugby coach of the same name, though he's asked about that often.)

"I lived in South Africa until I was nearly 9 years old," he explained Thursday afternoon, standing on the same field where he spent the weekend helping Auburn reach the tournament's Super Regional round for only the second time in school history. "My parents decided that there were better opportunities for us in America, for them, me and my brother, so we moved. It was quite the transition. I think I was pretty nervous at first, but I ended up loving it."

James and Antoinette Venter followed other family members who had moved to the United States two years earlier. Their kin had landed in Flower Mound, Texas, then a sleepy suburb of Dallas, so Brendan's family followed them there. Mom was a nurse in South Africa and continued in that field. Dad started an air conditioning company, a shrewd business decision in scorching hot Texas.

As Brendan grew, so did Flower Mound. He loved everything about it, even if it wasn't exactly what he was expecting.

"I loved playing cricket. I started playing when I was about 4 years old and loved everything about it," he recalls. "So, when I got to Texas I was like, 'Hey, where are the cricket leagues?' When they told me they didn't have that, I said, 'OK, well, what do you have that's the closest to it?'"

An elementary school classmate invited Brendan to sign up for his baseball team.

"The first couple of days of practice, if they threw it to my glove side, I would catch it with my glove," says the right-hander. "But if they threw it anywhere to the other side, I would catch it with my bare hand, just like cricket."

Brendan Venter has spent this season in the heart of Auburn's lineup. Auburn Athletics

His coaches explained that he needed to use his glove, no matter where the ball was. He took some time to get used to the change, often pausing as he tried to remember to swing his glove hand into position. "I got hit in the mouth a bunch during those first practices."

Fortunately, he also hit the ball a lot. There's admittedly not a ton of similarities between swinging for the fences and defending the wicket, but there is one aspect to it that even now, more than a decade later, has stuck with Venter when he steps to the plate. He still loves seeing those low pitches. "I do. When I see that perfect low one coming in, I still think I've got a pretty good chance to tee off on one of those. If anything is left over from my cricket days, that's it."

He tees off a lot. His 12 homers are tied for second on the team, making him one of five Tigers with 10 or more. Entering the NCAA tournament, he was hitting .352 with 18 RBIs in two-out situations, among the best in the nation. The team's much-vaunted offense sputtered down the stretch of the regular season but exploded in Raleigh for 25 runs in the first two games, anchored by Venter's 3-for-5 performance vs. Army to back ace Casey Mize on Saturday night.

"He just doesn't get rattled," says head coach Butch Thompson, who lured Venter to The Plains from Waco's McLennan Community College, where he was a two-time all-conference selection and caught the eyes of the college baseball world with a showcase performance in the 2016 Texas-New Mexico Junior College All-Star Home Run Derby. "He's played at first and third for us and spent the entire season in the heart of the lineup. You don't trust a kid with all of that unless he's a leader. In less than a year he's become a guy that his teammates can lean on."

Part of that leaning on includes questions about cricket, a sport that is fiercely beloved by billions around the world but remains a total mystery to the remaining billions.

"They do ask if I can explain it and I do try. I explain about wickets and how the overs work, the pace of play with the three-day games, tea time, all that good stuff. I will have it on, they want to watch and have me explain, so I start really getting into it. Then the bowler, he doesn't have to hit it, he can just block it and not have to run. And the scoring, if it goes past the ropes on the big circle and if it goes over the ropes it's a six ..."

His teammates, who were waiting on him to leave the field, start bailing. The sportswriter asking the questions catches his brow crossed up in confusion. Venter recognizes the evacuation and the look. They are familiar.

"This is exactly what happens," he says, laughing. "My friends and teammates, they try, then they just go 'This game is too slow to watch!' and they're gone. I'm the only guy at Auburn watching cricket."

Meanwhile, his grandparents and his uncle's family might be the only people in the Eastern Cape watching college baseball. They do so whenever they can online, though the time difference can make it a little rough when Auburn is playing in prime time, which, thanks in no small part to the efforts of their grandson, happens a lot.

Perhaps two weeks from now, they will be forced to stay up even later, to watch him take the field in Omaha, Nebraska, home of the College World Series. The last time the Tigers made it to the eight-team CWS was 1997, the same year young Brendan was born so many miles away. "That's the plan," Venter says, grinning at the thought. "Keep them staying up late as long as we can."