As the No. 23 Auburn Tigers look to continue its early success, the Tigers face a difficult obstacle in No. 7 Arizona State.
The three-game series between the Tigers and the Sun Devils will start Friday at 6 p.m. at Plainsman Park.
The Tigers and Sun Devils have met before, with Arizona State leading the all-time record 6-2 against Auburn.
In 2010 the Tigers and Sun Devils met for a three-game series in Arizona, resulting in a sweep of the series by the Sun Devils.
The Tigers currently hold a 10-3 record.
Auburn head coach John Pawlowski stressed the importance of playing solid baseball.
"They're obviously an outstanding baseball team, who are year in and year out at the top of the rankings of college baseball," Pawlowski said.
Pawlowski acknowledged the large amount of talent that the Sun Devils have on their team, relating their talent to that of Southeastern conference rivals.
Arizona State is coached by Tim Esmay.
The Sun Devils have accumulated an impressive record of 9-2, including wins against New Mexico, Delaware, Northern Illinois, Kansas and the University of California-Riverside.
The Sun Devils are led in batting by outfielder Johnny Ruettiger, who currently has a .417 batting average with 20 hits, 13 runs and eight RBIs.
The Sun Devils also have a stellar pitching rotation, which includes Kramer Champlin, Kyle Ottoson and Alex Blackford.
While facing the No. 7 Sun Devils will be challenging, Pawlowski and the Tigers are still confident that they will achieve their goals.
"Our goal is to go to the SEC tournament, to postseason play and to win the national championship," Pawlowski said.
"Our coaching staff and players expect to win, we are going to do everything we can to reach our goals."
When asked about who the Tigers will use on the mound against Arizona State, Pawlowski said juniors Cory Luckie and Derek Varnadore would start the games, but that he wasn't sure who the third starter would be.
Saturday's game will be played at 3 p.m. and Sunday's game will begin at 1 p.m.
The Sunday game will also feature several promotions.
Sunday has been named "Family Day" and "Autograph Day", with a post-game autograph session available to all who attend the game.
The team photo cards will be handed out to fans during the game as well.
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