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Almost every weekend in the SEC is a Top 25 match-up and this weekend is no different. After winning the Tennessee series and defeating Alabama State 11-2 Tuesday night, Auburn is on the road to Oxford to take on #14 Ole Miss.
The Rebels are 28-10 overall, 7-8 in the Conference. That 7-8 number should show you just what the folks who determine Top 25s in College Baseball think of the SEC.
The Tigers are on a 3 game winning streak, and hoping to take it a season-leading 4 game streak. One big part of that is that Auburn hasn't committed an error since the first game in the UT series. Ole Miss, meanwhile, is coming off two mid-week wins following dropping the Alabama series last weekend.
Auburn will go into this game with yet another different starting rotation. Cole Lipscomb is back in the Friday night Game 1 slot, Justin Camp is Saturday's Game 2 starter, and no one knows who is going to start on Sunday. Pitching was an issue going into this season, and that hasn't changed. However, there may be hope on the horizon for a certain pitcher to return to the Tigers next Spring (pay-walled article; sorry).
Auburn's bats haven't been quite as hot without Josh Palacios and Daniel Robert in the lineup. There's good reason to hope that Palacios, at least, will return tonight in Game 1. If he does, that should definitely boost the lineup. One thing that has made Auburn so strong at the plate this season is that both Anfernee Grier (who is not-so-quietly working his way up towards a 1st round MLB Draft grade) and Palacios consistently get on base in the 1-2 slots.
If the Tigers can get out of Oxford with a series win over the Rebels and get their SEC record back to at least 7-11, then Hoover is definitely still in play. They would only have a game's difference between themselves and the Rebels at that point, although Auburn has a number of tough series remaining against Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt.
How to Watch:
Friday, Game 1: 6:30 pm Central, WatchESPN, SECNetwork+
Saturday, Game 2: 6:00 pm Central, SEC Network
Sunday, Game 3: 1:00pm Central, SEC Network