Auburn baseball wraps the regular season in Lexington against the sneaky dangerous Kentucky Wildcats
If Auburn baseball (36-16, 15-11) is looking ahead at the SEC Tournament and potentially hosting an NCAA Regional and Super Regional, they’re not outwardly showing it.
The message, as it’s always been, is simple: Focus on every at-bat, every pitch, and every play, and handle your business. “Just do the things that are required to get a favorable outcome and not have to focus on the score. I think we learned some of that from last year. When you get in a bad way of being too result-oriented, you forget what it takes to win a game.” explained head coach Butch Thompson. “Your best players have to play well. You’re going to have to make a pitch. It’s not us saying ‘we need to win a game and we need a result.’ It’s what happens in that game that creates the best opportunity for the outcome. This team has understood that better than anybody I have been around in a while.”
Looking past this weekend’s opponent, a Kentucky team (28-23, 10-17) that doesn’t have, on paper, a threatening record, would be a mistake. Kentucky has two series wins against Top 25 teams at home this year, including a series win against Georgia where they scored 30 runs across three games and a stunning series win against consensus #1 Tennessee, where they held the nation’s #1 offense to eleven total runs across a three-game set.
Thompson’s aware of the stakes this weekend and the threat Kentucky poses on their home turf. "Across the entire league, these games are meaningful this weekend. That's what's so great about playing in the Southeastern Conference" Thompson told AuburnTigers.com. "Us and our opponent, Kentucky, are playing for everything. We're playing for position and seeding. We're playing for an opportunity to extend the season into next week at the SEC Tournament and hopefully beyond."
Kentucky is paced offensively by infielders Daniel Harris and Chase Estep, both impact upperclassmen. Harris, a grad student originally from Stone Mountain, GA, leads the Wildcats with a .322 batting average. 3B Estep, a junior from nearby Corbin, KY, was the SEC Player of the Week in week 3, the national player of the week in week 4, and currently paces the team with 52 runs, 13 homers, 47 RBI, and 16 stolen bases. His season dominance has earned him NCBWA All-American votes in preliminary balloting. Overall, the Wildcats team hits to a collective .276 and pitches to a 4.95 ERA, with 516 strikeouts in 442 innings pitched on the season.
Bullpen dominance continues
Auburn’s bullpen, a strength for most of the season, has switched into another gear recently. In the last six games, Auburn’s bullpen has covered 35.1 innings with 42 strikeouts and a 1.27 ERA, collecting five wins in the process. Against Alabama in 11.2 innings across Friday and Saturday, the bullpen allowed only six baserunners and no runs, with twelve strikeouts. Beginning at Troy and ending in the ninth inning against Samford, the Auburn bullpen put up 22.2 innings of scoreless baseball. Closer Blake Burkhalter and setup man Carson Skipper have been their usual dominant selves, but key contributions from Chase Allsup, John Armstrong, Carson Swilling, and Tommy Sheehan have contributed to the lockdown efforts by the bullpen.
Injury updates
Second baseman Cole Foster, suffering a strained oblique after a collision at home plate in game one of the Alabama series, is questionable for this weekend’s matchup. He traveled with the team and will test the back in pregame warmups, but true freshman Brody Moss is traveling to Lexington and will be activated to the 27-man roster if Foster is unable to go. Senior Garrett Farquhar is expected to get the start at 2B if Foster is not available.
Starters
Thursday – Jr. RHP Mason Barnett (2-1, 4.12) vs. TBA
Friday – Jr. RHP Trace Bright (2-4, 4.76) vs. TBA
Saturday – So. RHP Joseph Gonzalez (6-2, 2.98) vs. TBA
Probable lineup
SS Brody Moore
1B Sonny DiChiara
3B Blake Rambusch
RF Bobby Pierce
DH Brooks Carlson
CF Kason Howell
LF Mason Land
C Nate LaRue
2B Cole Foster OR Garrett Farquhar
Stats that exist but do not matter
Kentucky is 2nd in the SEC with 67 stolen bases in 74 attempts, while Auburn catcher Nate LaRue is tied for 4th in the SEC with nine runners caught stealing in thirteen attempts, and his 69% caught stealing rate is believed to lead all of college baseball.
Schedule
First pitches at Kentucky Proud Park are scheduled for Thursday and Friday at 5:30 p.m. CT and Saturday at 1 p.m. All three games are available for streaming on SEC Network+ and will be broadcast on the Auburn Sports Network. The radio call, with Voice of the Tigers Andy Burcham and producer Brad Law, can be heard locally on 93.9 FM.