No. 1 Texas Hosting No. 8 Auburn in Another Massive SEC Showdown

There is no such thing as an easy weekend series when it comes to life in the SEC. So far in their first season as members of the conference the No. 1 Texas Longhorns (30-5, 13-2) have learned this lesson. While they have won all five of their series, including three sweeps, they have been far from a walk in the park.

In each conference series win so far the Longhorns have had to grind out a win in almost all of them. That will likely be the case once again if they want to secure their sixth SEC series win with the No. 8 Auburn Tigers (27-10, 9-6) coming to Austin.

Auburn has proven to be one of the nation's best teams, especially in recent play, entering this series on a six-game winning streak. The Tigers already have multiple marquee series wins under their belt and will undoubtedly want to add another over the top team in the country.

Texas outfielder Easton Winfield (9) high fives a coach following a hit during the Longhorns' game against The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. | Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

How to watch/listen:

Thursday April 17 at 7 p.m. CT - SEC Network+/TexasSports.com/Audio

Friday April 18 at 6 p.m. CT - SEC Network+/TexasSports.com/Audio

Saturday April 19 at 12 p.m. CT - SEC Network+/TexasSports.com/Audio

A look at Auburn's season so far

The Tigers have been one of the best teams in the nation over the first half of the season. They started out red hot with an impressive 11-1 record, and enter this season having won their last six. Especially impressive in SEC play, they boast four out of their first five conference series -- including a sweep of LSU.

Auburn by the numbers:

Record - 27-10 (9-6)

Runs scored - 271

Runs allowed - 176

Team Avg. - .303

Team Avg. against - .232

Team ERA - 4.45

Auburn wins this game if...

It can maintain its level of success pitching wise and shut down a Texas lineup that has been inconsistent throughout conference play. The Longhorns have shown their ability to put up runs in bunches, taking advantage of mistakes and hanging crooked numbers on the scoreboard in the blink of an eye.

However, that is not always the case. They have also proven to be prone to large dry spells throughout games, with the bats going ice cold while their opponents carve them up. If the Tigers can bring out the latter form of the Longhorns, then they very well could leave Austin having given them their first conference series loss of the season.

Texas wins this game if...

It can find a way to string together successful at-bats and keep consistent pressure on Auburn's pitching staff to deliver stressful pitches. As we mentioned above, the lineup is more than capable of producing a big inning and exploiting mistakes, it just has to put itself in a position to do so on a consistent basis.

When that happens it's good news for the Longhorns. The Auburn pitching staff will make that a difficult task over these three games, much like Kentucky did last weekend. The key for Texas will be getting on base and moving runners over with productive at-bats once they reach. If they can do that, the Longhorns will like their chances to win yet another SEC series.