After having success in its nonconference slate to start the season, Auburn baseball jumps right into its gauntlet of an SEC slate when it travels to Nashville to face Vanderbilt this weekend.
This matchup features the beginning of 10 consecutive weekend series in conference play across the league. For the Tigers, starting with the Commodores is not the easiest task, but it will not get any easier after them.
Head coach Butch Thompson knows the challenge that is ahead of his squad, knowing the opponents in the SEC are much different than what has seen up to this point.
"So, a great Vanderbilt team. It looks like a consensus top 10 nationally ranked team," Thompson said. "That's how we'll start off conference play for the first couple of weeks, but all 10 weeks always feel the same with the challenges that are ahead and high quality. We'll get started off with a ballclub that's played really well."
This is the first meeting between Auburn and Vanderbilt since the two met in the 2023 SEC Tournament – the Commodores won that contest 6-4.
The boys from Nashville enter the series with a 15-3 record, coming off an eight-run win over Indiana on Tuesday. The Vanderbilt offense got off to a quick start in the first two innings of the game, posing its will early and scoring eight runs on the way to a 13-5 victory.
The Commodores bats have been fairly consistent throughout the season so far, and that showed again in the win over the Hoosiers. RJ Austin, Alan Espinal and Matthew Polk all picked up multiple hits in that game, combining for five RBIs on the day.
Vanderbilt’s pitching staff also put out a great performance as it has for most of the season. The bullpen pushed out many pitchers as it has in most midweek games, but out of the five runs the team gave up, the bullpen only gave up one. The dominance from the relievers gives manager Tim Corbin some confidence heading into the conference schedule.
Florida transfer and Auburn third baseman Deric Fabian has seen this Vanderbilt team plenty of times, so he fully understands the challenge they will face on this road trip.
"Yeah I definitely think those guys are going to compete with their stuff," Fabian said. "They're pretty solid, and they're going to come right at you. They usually have some good velo, but just kind of falling back on what we've done in the cages and the weight room, just kind of focusing on doing our thing."
Deric Fabian (#7) successfully slides ino second base against Austin Peay State on March 10th 2024
The Tigers, meanwhile, are also coming off a midweek game, defeating the Troy Trojans 8-2. Auburn’s pitching was the key factor in this game, as junior pitcher Conner McBride picked up his third win of the season, going for five full innings while striking out two. He only gave up one run and one hit as well.
The Commodores put their opponents in tough situations when they step up to the plate. Coming into this week, they sit at second in the conference in doubles and tied for second in triples. Players like Troy LaNeve, Jonathan Vastine and Davis Diaz are real threats in that category, as they each have seven doubles on the year.
On top of the amount of extra base hits it produces, Vanderbilt also has speed on the base paths. Both Austin and Calvin Hewett are ranked in the top 10 nationally in stolen bases this year, so the Auburn defense and pitching staff will have to work hard to keep the Commodore offense off of the base paths.
Vanderbilt will send out junior left-hander Carter Holton to start the game on Friday. Holton comes in posting a 2-0 record and a 5.00 earned run average. In his last start against Illinois State, he threw for five innings, racking up 11 strikeouts while giving up zero runs on four hits. Bryce Cunningham and Devin Futrell will start on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
On the other side, the Tigers will stick with their typical selection of weekend starters, but in a different order.
Auburn will send out Chase Allsup for game one, but then will go Carson Myers for the Saturday appearance. Joseph Gonzalez will now appear in Sunday’s finale after not pitching last week against Austin Peay.
These three pitchers must have a nice start on the mound and eat up some innings. While the bullpen has been able to finish out games for the Tigers, the Commodores have found ways to eat into the opposing bullpen early, which has led to them winning many games.
Thompson knows just how important the bullpen is in any given game. He understands that if his team wants to win games, it will have to be solid on the mound, no matter what situation the Tigers are put into.
"This is the Southeastern Conference. This is the best amateur baseball on Earth," Thompson said. "This is a conference where if you can just handle a roll and dominate it and do it and be competitive in this league, you don't necessarily have to start."
On the offensive end, Auburn needs to rely on the power that it has gotten out of its bats this season. Thompson’s squad has hit a home run in every single game so far this season. Ike Irish and Cooper McMurray lead the team in that category at six each.
Mason Maners has also recently been hot as of late. The Jacksonville State transfer currently leads the Tigers in batting average with a .388. He looks to continue that run of power after hitting the game-winning home run in the opening game of the Austin Peay series.
The Auburn bats must shine in the opening series of the SEC schedule if the team wants to build positive momentum. The Tigers have not won in Nashville since 2012, so if they want to end the cold streak, they must get on the board early and constantly.
If Vanderbilt keeps Auburn off of the scoreboard and gets into the bullpen, it can exploit what has historically been a weakness for the Tigers. Look for the Commodore pitchers to pose their will immediately in this series.
Auburn pitcher Will Cannon knows that this is a new beginning for his team, and that the mindset has to ramp up to win.
"There's a little bit more intensity, not really with how you play, but it's just who you're playing a little bit," Cannon said. "This is the real season, and so just going in there but treating it like every other game, that's what matters."
The opening game of conference play begins Friday at Hawkins Field at 6 p.m. CST. Game two will be on Saturday at 2 p.m. CST and game three will take place at 1 p.m. CST. All three games between the Tigers and Vanderbilt will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
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Tyler Raley is a junior from Birmingham, Alabama, majoring in journalism.
Twitter: @traley34
