AUBURN, Ala. — No. 11 Auburn (28-13, 9-9) will host Mississippi State (24-17, 6-12) this weekend for another consequential SEC series. The Tigers have one each of their first three home SEC series, but are looking to bounce back after being swept last weekend at top-ranked Texas.
“We’re excited to be back home against Mississippi State this weekend,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “The last couple of series at home have been good. It’ll be a great series for us to try to get engaged and bounce back.
Auburn enters the series against the Bulldogs at .500 in SEC play, and a series victory would add to the Tigers' already impressive resume. Despite the Bulldogs only having six SEC victories, they won their previous SEC road series against Alabama.
Perhaps the key this weekend for Auburn will be getting the bats back going. After starting SEC play hot at the plate, the bats have cooled over the last few games. The Tigers only scored seven runs in the series against Texas and just one run in the mid-week victory over Georgia Tech.
Mississippi State could prove to be a hindrance to Auburn’s bats waking up. The Bulldogs have a 4.24 team ERA. They are also top-5 in the SEC in strikeouts, creating plenty of swings and misses.
The good news for the Tigers is that their batting average at home this season is 3.08. Ike Irish leads the way for Auburn, hitting .417 in SEC play, but the Tigers will need more than just Irish to produce to take down the Bulldogs.
While Auburn’s hitting has struggled as of late, Auburn’s pitching has not. Senior Sam Dutton will get the start on Friday night for Auburn, and he has been stellar. Dutton leads the SEC with a 2.43 ERA this season and has a 5-2 record to show for it. Dutton will face off against Mississippi State junior lefty Pico Kohn in the series opener.
Junior lefty Cade Fisher will start for Auburn in game two against. Fisher posts an ERA of 4.71, but has been solid as of late. He’ll match up against junior righty Evan Siary for the Bulldogs. Sunday’s starter in TBA for the Tigers. In the past few weekends, freshman Andreas Alvarez has started for Auburn, but the Tigers could look to change things up this weekend. The Bulldogs are slated to start senior righty Karson Ligon in the finale.
This weekend is the Tigers’ second-to-last home series of the year, and they hope to make the most of it.
“Everybody in our league right now is going for wins,” Thompson said. “It’s a critical time in the year for every team in our league, but we have to stay on the process and do some things. We have to keep growing and hopefully figure out how to hook it up offensively.”
The first pitch on Friday and Saturday night is set for 6:00 PM CT. Sunday’s game is set for 2:00 PM. All three games will air on the Auburn Sports Network and the SECN+.
