A Look At Texas A&M As Auburn Baseball Prepares to Face Aggies in SEC Tournament

The Auburn Tigers are looking to continue their SEC Championship hopes alive, facing a tough Texas A&M team in the quarterfinal of the conference tournament.

Auburn is coming off a standout win over LSU on Wednesday. The Tigers used the arm of ace Jake Marciano to help secure the win to open their postseason, recording six innings with only one earned run and throwing four strikeouts in the win.

However, the Tigers will have their hands full on Friday night, facing an Aggie team that is coming off a double-bye and wants to make a run at the SEC Championship crown. Here’s what to know about Auburn’s opponent heading into the game.

Hitting

The Aggies can hit the ball, having the third-best batting average in the SEC and being top 10 in the country in runs (9.2) and home runs per game (2.2). 10 of their conference games saw them score 10 runs or more, perhaps being a team that can simply beat you by the long ball at times.

Out of the consistent starters within the group, five of them have a batting average of .300 or better. The two with the highest are MLB Draft prospects in third baseman Gavin Grahovac (.351) and outfielder Caden Sorrell (.343). From top to bottom, the Aggies know how to hit, and Auburn will hope a longer break away from the diamond helps stifle that offense.

All five of those hitters who slash over .300 or better also recorded double-digit home runs. Sorrell finished second in the SEC in home runs with 23, while Grahovac was tied for seventh with 19 of his own.

Those aren’t the only two to keep an eye on, however. When Auburn faced off against Texas A&M in College Station back in early May, shortstop Chris Haciopan was the only reason that the Tigers didn’t sweep the Aggies in conference play. After taking a doubleheader that Saturday, the junior drove in all four runs in a 4-3 victory for the home team.

It’s a tall task, but if the Tigers can slow down the Aggie offense, their chances of playing on Saturday go up a large amount.

Pitching

The Aggies do one thing really well: they don’t walk opposing batters. Their 2.97 walks per nine innings is third in the country in doing so. Texas A&M is also ninth in its strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.11.

Ethan Darden, a Clemson transfer, is expected to get the ball for the Maroon and White on Friday night, and he echoes what the Aggies do well on the mound. Darden will be making his projected third start for the Aggies in their last four games, and he’s had strong outings as of late. In his previous two starts, last weekend against Mississippi State, he didn’t allow more than two earned runs per game. He has an ERA of 3.62 in 32.1 innings pitched.

Out of the bullpen, keep an eye out for closer Clayton Freshcorn, who has had a standout junior season as well. He’s recorded a 2.42 ERA and has had 12 saves in 24 relief appearances this season. That leads the SEC and is third nationally in that category.

However, this is where the Tigers could take advantage. While Auburn is first in pitching ERA, A&M is 11th in the conference, having multiple games where the Aggies have simply blown up on the mound. They do play clean defense, however, being 22nd in the country in errors per game with only 0.73 a contest.

If head coach Butch Thompson and his group can take advantage of that early, it will help the team’s chances of getting to the semifinal game this weekend. However, the Tigers will need to keep the opposing Aggie bats away from putting the game out of control.

First pitch is scheduled to be around 8 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

Add us as a preferred source on Google