Coming off series wins over Texas A&M and Georgia, Auburn has a chance to make waves in the SEC when the Tigers face Mississippi State in Starkville for a Thursday-Saturday series. Winning a third straight series won't be easy, though, as the Bulldogs rank third in the SEC in hitting and have the conference's second-best team ERA.
Last weekend
The Tigers trailed 3-1 early, but they rallied for single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh to take the come-from-behind win. A one-out Hunter Kelly double that scored Blake Austin provided the winning run in the seventh inning.
Auburn cruised in Game 1 to clinch the series, but the Tigers were lackluster in Game 2, amassing just three hits.
Midweek
Auburn scored five runs in the final three innings to pick up its 16th comeback victory of the season.
Auburn (23-14, 5-10) at
No. 16 Mississippi State (30-9, 8-7)
Probable starters
Thursday, 6:30 p.m., ESPNU
LHP Conner Kendrick (2-1, 1.93 ERA)* vs. LHP Luis Pollorena (6-1, 3.02 ERA)
Friday, 6:30 p.m., CSS/ESPN3
LHP Michael O'Neal (7-2, 2.40 ERA)* vs. RHP Kevin Graveman (5-2, 2.15 ERA)
Saturday, 4 p.m.
TBA vs. TBA
* - Auburn hasn't listed any weekend starters yet, but Kendrick and O'Neal were listed in MSU's series notes.
Weather forecast
It doesn't look too good for Thursday night's game, but the rest of the series should be nice. Auburn's bats have been hot since the weather has warmed up, but it will be a little cooler this weekend. Hopefully, that won't slow down the Tigers' offense.
Individual stats
Auburn | Mississippi State | |
Batting avg. | Garrett Cooper .333 | Hunter Renfroe, .429 |
On-base % | Garrett Cooper .471 | Hunter Renfroe, .494 |
Runs | Ryan Tella, 33 | Adam Frazier, 38 |
RBIs | Cooper and Tella, 29 | Hunter Renfroe, 42 |
Doubles | Cullen Wacker, 11 | Renfroe and Frazier, 12 |
Triples | Five players, 1 | Adam Frazier, 5 |
Home runs | Garrett Cooper, 4 | Hunter Renfroe, 13 |
Stolen bases | Ryan Tella, 11-of-13 | Hunter Renfroe, 8-of-11 |
Starting ERA | Conner Kendrick, 1.93 | Kendall Graveman, 2.15 |
Relief ERA | Justin Camp, 1.84 | Ross Mitchell, 0.96 |
Starting BA against | Daniel Koger, .201 | Evan Mitchell, .125 |
Relief BA against | Reid Carter, .213 | Chad Girodo, .174 |
Strikeouts | Conner Kendrick, 45 | Lindgren and Holder, 42 |
Wins | Michael O'Neal, 7-2 | Ross Mitchell, 6-0 |
Saves | Terrance Dedrick, 3 | Jonathan Holder, 11 |
Team stats
Auburn | Mississippi State | |
Batting avg. | .270 | .298 |
On-base % | .364 | .398 |
Runs | 193 | 256 |
RBIs | 174 | 227 |
Home runs | 16 | 23 |
Extra-base hits | 97 | 98 |
Stolen bases | 24-of-40 | 48-of-62 |
ERA | 3.26 | 2.45 |
BA against | .251 | .210 |
WHIP | 1.32 | 1.13 |
Strikeouts | 218 | 321 |
Walks | 124 | 133 |
Saves | 11 | 13 |
Around the SEC
No. 2 Vanderbilt at Georgia
No. 3 LSU at Alabama
Texas A&M at No. 12 Arkansas
No. 17 Kentucky at No. 18 South Carolina
No 21 Ole Miss at Tennessee
Florida at Missouri
SEC standings
Team | SEC | Pct. | Overall | Pct. | Home | Away | Neutral | Streak |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eastern | ||||||||
Vanderbilt | 14 - 1 | .933 | 33 - 5 | .868 | 24-3 | 9-2 | 0-0 | L1 |
Florida | 8 - 7 | .533 | 20 - 18 | .526 | 14-13 | 6-4 | 0-1 | W6 |
South Carolina | 8 - 7 | .533 | 28 - 10 | .737 | 20-5 | 8-3 | 0-2 | W1 |
Kentucky | 7 - 8 | .467 | 24 - 12 | .667 | 16-6 | 5-5 | 3-1 | L3 |
Tennessee | 5 - 10 | .333 | 17 - 18 | .486 | 10-7 | 5-9 | 2-2 | W3 |
Missouri | 4 - 11 | .267 | 12 - 20 | .375 | 8-7 | 4-12 | 0-1 | L3 |
Georgia | 3 - 12 | .200 | 14 - 24 | .368 | 9-14 | 5-10 | 0-0 | W2 |
Western | ||||||||
LSU | 13 - 2 | .867 | 35 - 3 | .921 | 25-1 | 9-2 | 1-0 | W2 |
Arkansas | 9 - 6 | .600 | 25 - 14 | .651 | 19-7 | 5-3 | 0-4 | L3 |
Mississippi St. | 8 - 7 | .533 | 30 - 9 | .769 | 22-5 | 6-4 | 2-0 | W4 |
Alabama | 8 - 7 | .533 | 23 - 16 | .590 | 15-6 | 8-8 | 0-2 | W1 |
Ole Miss | 7 - 8 | .467 | 26 - 12 | .684 | 18-6 | 8-4 | 0-2 | L2 |
Texas A&M | 6 - 9 | .400 | 21 - 17 | .553 | 16-8 | 3-7 | 1-2 | L4 |
Auburn | 5 - 10 | .333 | 23 - 14 | .622 | 17-9 | 4-5 | 2-0 | W1 |