In the wake of a home sweep at the hands of rival Alabama, Auburn baseball coach Sunny Golloway said he would consider a “major move” on the infield to rekindle his struggling Tigers.
The Tiger defense struggled throughout the weekend. In Sunday’s finale, third baseman Kyler Deese committed two errors while shortstop Cody Nulph, second baseman Melvin Gray and catcher Blake Logan each committed one.
“I don’t see a whole lot of leadership on the infield,” Golloway said. “We were out of position on some bunt defense and were surprised by the delayed steal.”
The first of the shakeups under consideration involved bringing Damon Haecker back to the infield.
Haecker has played all across the diamond this season, but spent the majority of his time in the outfield during conference play.
The sophomore started all 56 games as a freshman, including 47 at second base and nine at shortstop. Haecker committed 14 errors as a freshman and posted a .949 fielding percentage.
Golloway said Haecker’s leadership and versatility are some of the main reasons he is considering the change.
“He’s the closest thing to a leader that we have,” Golloway said. “If I bring Hack back in, it’d be a major move late in the year. A major move to put him at short or put him at third.”
Golloway mentioned that if Haecker were moved to shortstop it might move Nulph to third base while Deese would play in the outfield.
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