After downing No. 21 Troy 6-1 at home Tuesday to snap a four-game losing streak, the Tigers (14-10, 2-4 SEC) prepare to host top-ranked Vanderbilt (23-3, 4-2 SEC) this weekend.
Auburn produced six runs on seven hits against the Trojans Tuesday while holding Troy to only three hits.
"It's good to win," head coach John Pawlowski said. "Our guys have worked hard and we didn't have too much luck this past weekend, and we didn't play real well. I thought we pitched extremely well early in the ballgame."
Junior pitcher Jon Luke Jacobs retired all nine batters he faced Tuesday in his third appearance of the season.
"I thought Jon Luke set the tone early," Pawlowski said. "He went out and attacked the zone, and we were fortunate to get some runs on the board."
The Commodores deftly beat their midweek opponent, defeating UT-Martin at home Tuesday 10-3.
Commodore sophomore infielder Anthony Gomez extended his hitting streak to 21 games in his final at-bat of the night.
Gomez said he tries not to think about his streak and focuses on the team's success instead.
"It's just something that happens, but I really don't want to worry about it," Gomez said. "You just have to take it for what it's worth, and it's more important to me to win games."
Vanderbilt is deep in the pitching position, with thirteen different pitchers making two appearances or more this season.
Gomez said the depth on his team has been instrumental to its success.
"They're all solid no matter who we throw in there," Gomez said. "Wherever someone goes, we have complete faith in them. As you can see, we have a lot of guys coming in off the bench getting hits."
Auburn is 10-6 at home this season and has won six of eight games when scoring in the first inning.
The team has struggled this season when trailing late in the game, going 0-5 when trailing in the sixth inning and 0-6 trailing in the eighth.
The four-game losing streak was the Tiger's longest of the season.
Junior pitcher Derek Varnadore said the midweek win was a major victory for the team.
"That was huge," Varnadore said. "We had to figure out we could still hit the ball. That was huge for us especially going into this weekend because we have to do something."
This weekend's series will offer several promotions for fans.
Friday night will be 80s night at Plainsman Park and Friday night fireworks will be displayed, weather permitting.
Fans are encouraged to wear 80s attire, and music from the decade will be played during the game.
The first 500 fans will receive 80s style sunglasses.
Friday's first pitch will be thrown at 6 p.m., and fans unable to attend can follow the action at auburntigers.com.
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