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A spirit that is not afraid

Auburn makes return to Texas for first SEC road series with Texas A&M

<p>Auburn Baseball Blake Rambusch (1) watches as teammate Brody Moore (4) slides into home plate vs. Alabama State on Tuesday March 1, 2022</p>

Auburn Baseball Blake Rambusch (1) watches as teammate Brody Moore (4) slides into home plate vs. Alabama State on Tuesday March 1, 2022

Auburn baseball (16-5, 1-2 SEC) makes its return to Texas this weekend for a three-game series with Texas A&M (13-7, 2-1 SEC) after starting off the regular season versus Big 12 opponents in Arlington.

This season, Texas A&M is Auburn’s second conference foe. The Tigers faced No. 1 Ole Miss last weekend to open league play and were able to take a win away from the team on top of the national rankings, but they dropped the other two to lose the series. 

Each game in the series versus the Rebels was won in blow-out fashion, with the closest margin of victory being seven runs, and the other two were by double digits. Auburn’s game two win was by a score of 19-5, but they gave up a combined 25 runs in the other two games compared to scoring eight.

The Tigers’ most recent action was much of the opposite. Their matchup with South Alabama on Tuesday resulted in a 13-12, come-from-behind victory. The win marked Auburn’s largest comeback victory since 2017, being down six runs after the top of the fourth, so the team has some momentum going into the series.

The Tigers pushed across the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth, and closer Blake Burkhalter stayed on to shut down South Alabama in the ninth to seal the win and earn his third win of the season.

Opposingly, the Aggies enter the series coming off a series win against No.  21 LSU last weekend and a mid-week 15-8 triumph over Rice.

Led by first-year head coach Jim Schlossnagle, the Aggies seemingly gained some confidence after taking two of three in the series with LSU. For the season, Texas A&M is hitting for an average of .266, but its starters hit .300 against LSU, knocking in 23 runs before putting up 15 on Rice.

Here are some things to look for in the series:

Hot Bats

The Tigers’ bats have all the potential to explode, and the outcome is usually good when they do. They are 7-1 when they put up seven or more runs on the season.

Auburn ranks top-five in the NCAA in several offensive categories, such as batting average (.316), hits (225), runs (187) and OBP (0.428).

This matchup features plenty of firepower from the first base position.

For Auburn, Sonny DiChiara leads his team in average (.471), home runs (seven), slugging percentage (1.037), on-base percentage (1.657) and walks (18). He is also the only player who is top five in the NCAA in average, OBP and slugging.

For Texas A&M, sophomore first baseman Jack Moss leads his team with a .397 batting line. He is coming off a 2-for-6 performance in which he knocked home five runs.

Another player who is currently on a tear is Auburn third baseman Blake Rambusch. He is currently on an 11-game hit streak with 11 multi-hit games on the campaign. Auburn’s leadoff man is 22-for-45 with seven extra-base hits, 13 runs scored and 13 RBIs during that streak.

Auburn figuring out back end of pitching rotation

Auburn will continue their search for guys to complete its starting rotation in the series. Games one and two starters have been announced in left-hander Hayden Mullins and junior Trace Bright. 

Mullins threw five innings, allowing one run on two hits, striking out three and walking four in the winning effort in game two against Ole Miss.

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Bright had a tougher going against the Rebels in game three. Six runs were scored on him (three earned) in 4.1 IP, as he gave up five hits and surrendered two free passes while racking up five Ks.

Beyond that remains a question mark for the Tigers. The game three starter for Auburn is still to be announced.

Mason Barnett is a candidate to take the hill for game three. He started against South Alabama, but went just one inning and allowing four runs before handing the ball to the bullpen. He also began game one against Ole Miss on the mound, but had another early exit after going three innings and giving up five runs.

Starter Joseph Gonzalez also has not seen the mound since he exited the game after one inning in his March 13 start versus Middle Tennesee. He made four starts earlier in the season and posted a 1.72 ERA with a 2-0 record. His status is unknown.

Also, transfer Tommy Sheehan and senior Jordan Armstrong have labored in bullpen roles several times in recent play after making multiple starts earlier in the season.

Stay tuned to see who Auburn gives the ball to in game three. 

Tough road environment 

Auburn opened SEC play against the Aggies in 2021 with a win, and later in the season took two of three from them in Auburn to win the season series 3-1. Auburn won its first series in Blue Bell Park in 2013 but have lost three straight there ever since.

Auburn is 4-1 on the road up to this point in the season, but this serves as the Tigers’ first conference test on the road. 

In the all-time series, Auburn is 12-14 against the Aggies, with a 4-8 line in College Station.

The series is set to start on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CST in College Station. The games will be broadcast on the Auburn Sports Network and will stream on SEC Network-plus from Blue Bell Park. They can also be heard on 93.3 FM.

"It's another SEC weekend where you're matched athletically," said head coach Butch Thompson. "But I think every team feels that way. Whether you're at home or on the road, it comes down to execution."


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