Auburn (4-0) will play their first games away from Plainsman Park this weekend as they make a trip to Jacksonville for the Jax College Baseball Classic, where they will have three games and two top-25 matchups on the schedule. Auburn is 4-0 and has played an opening weekend series against Eastern Kentucky and a one-game set with UAB they played Tuesday night.
Auburn comes in riding a four-game win streak as they swept Eastern Kentucky and took down UAB comfortably. Cooper Weis and Chris Stanfield lead the team with each boasting a .385 batting average while Ike Irish leads the team with seven RBIs through the first four games of the season. Auburn has a great chance to catapult themselves onto the national stage with several top 25 teams waiting for them in Jacksonville.
The Tigers first will square off against the 18th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday who come in with a 3-1 record with their only loss coming to Leigh in an opening weekend tournament. The Hawkeyes were a tournament team last year and will be a difficult team to get by for the Tigers but an early season challenge and chance to boost their resume is welcome. Sam Peterson leads the Hawkeys with a .625 batting average, through his 16 at-bats he has 10 hits and has crossed the plate eight times. Iowa’s Reece Moore is hitting north of .500 with a team-leading 1.859 OPS through the Hawkeye's first four games.
On Saturday, Auburn will take on the Wichita State Shockers who are 2-1 early in the season as they opened up their campaign playing at Little Rock for a three-game series. The Shockers are led by Camden Johnson and Ryan Callahan who are both hitting above .500 in the young season and both boast a .600 or better slugging percentage. Wichita State is the only unranked team on the schedule for Auburn but their Saturday afternoon clash will be no walk in the park as they have the talent to compete with the other teams at the Classic.
The Tigers will cap off their trip to Jacksonville in a Sunday battle with the 1st ranked Cavaliers of Virginia. Statistically the toughest matchup for Auburn, the Cavaliers will offer both a challenge and opportunity for the Tigers. The Cavaliers are 4-0 on the season much like Auburn, all four of their wins coming on their home field as they swept Hofstra on opening weekend and blanked Old Dominion in a Midweek clash. Led by Bobby Whalen, who bats .600 so far this year, and is among the best hitters that will be in Jacksonville this weekend, Virginia is one of the teams in the country and Auburn has a golden opportunity to add a statement win over a top 10 team.
Auburn begins their Jacksonville series Friday at 5 p.m. against Iowa. On Saturday the first pitch is at 11 a.m. against Wichita State. Finally, they take on Virginia at 3 p.m. on Sunday. All games will be played in Jacksonville FL and are streaming on D1baseball.com in conjunction with the Auburn Sports Network.
