For the first time since 1999, Auburn is making an appearance in a Super Regional.
And when the Tigers do battle with No. 1 overall seed Florida, they'll need the star power of their four freshmen that were named to the 2018 Collegiate Baseball Freshmen All-America Team, announced by the group Wednesday morning.
Tanner Burns, Cody Greenhill, Edouard Julien and Steven Williams were selected, the most freshman in program history, exceeding the three honorees from 2008.
Burns, the 2017 Collegiate Baseball National High School Player of the Year, has remained in the starting rotation since the opening weekend. With a 3.12 ERA and a 7-4 record, he ranks second on the team with 74 strikeouts, the second-most by an Auburn freshman since 1998.
In Burns' last three starts, two of which were postseason, he is 3-0 with a 2.37 ERA, pitching six or more innings each trip to the mound.
Greenhill led the Tigers with a 2.42 ERA in SEC play after overcoming an illness that forced him to miss nearly four weeks of conference play. In his freshman season, Greenhill posted a 5-2 record with a 2.11 ERA while securing five saves. In the first 10.1 innings of his collegiate career, Greenhill didn’t allow an earned run. In 11 of his 19 of his trips to the mound, not one earned run was allowed.
Greenhill earned the win in his most recent relief appearance against N.C. State in the Raleigh Regional Final.
In four of the last six SEC series of the regular season, Burns and Greenhill combined to pitch all nine innings in a victory. The freshman duo contributed to the first shutout against rival Alabama since 1980 and also pitched all but 0.2 innings in a league win over Vanderbilt.
Offensively, Julien and Williams look to leave a legacy as the best freshman duo in program history. The roommates combined for 28 home runs and 117 RBI in their first seasons on The Plains.
Julien’s 17 home runs and 68 RBI are the most by an Auburn player since 2010. His 17 home runs are tied for second among freshmen nationally and are the most by an Auburn freshman since 1998. The Canadian's RBI total leads all freshmen nationally and tied former Auburn baseball great Frank Thomas for the most in program history.
Williams has been destined for greatness since his first day in an Auburn uniform, as his first collegiate at-bat resulted in a home run and he totaled seven RBI in his debut. Williams produced 11 home runs and 49 RBI this season, and his 11 home runs and 49 RBI are tied for fourth-most and seventh-most by an Auburn freshman, respectively.
Williams batted .295 while tying for second on the team in runs (52), third in RBI, fourth in hits (69) and tied for fourth in home runs.
Auburn is scheduled to face the No. 1 Gators in Game 1 this Saturday at 11 a.m. CST on ESPN.
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