Following a mid-week contest in which Auburn baseball defeated Samford on neutral grounds, the Tigers will get set for another extremely difficult weekend series against SEC powerhouse, Tennessee. No. 5 Auburn will face the No. 7 Volunteers in a three-game set, commencing on Friday evening with the finale scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
Butch Thompson’s Tigers have been red hot recently, winning 11 out of their last 16 games and they will look to continue this momentum into Knoxville with limited series remaining before the postseason. Auburn currently holds a 31-14 overall record with an 11-10 record during conference play. Although the Tigers have performed very well this season, they have faced many struggles on the road, winning just four out of their 12 away contests heading into the weekend at Tennessee.
The Volunteers have found many successes this season as well as they currently sit at No. 7 in the rankings with a 36-9 record while going 13-8 in the SEC. Tennessee is led by eight-year head coach Tony Vitello who has turned his Volunteers into a household name in the baseball world by making a College World Series appearance on three occasions while bringing home the trophy to Knoxville last year in 2024.
One of Vitello’s stars, Hunter Ensley has been making headlines for the Vols at the plate as the senior outfielder is near the top of his team’s roster in batting average, RBIs, and total bases. On the defensive side of the Tigers daunting matchup, southpaw pitcher Liam Doyle has been very impressive this season as he has held opponents to just a .144 batting average and a 2.23 ERA over 64.2 innings pitched. Doyle also has showcased his powerful arm this year getting up to 99 mph from the left side which improved his strikeout numbers to 15.4 strikeouts per nine innings in 2025. Both of these young stars are athletes for Auburn fans to keep an eye on as the Tigers look to change their opponent’s fortunes.
While Auburn is currently ranked over Tennessee in the weekly top 25 polls, the Vols have Auburn’s number in just about every stat category with Tennessee coming in the top three in both runs per game and ERA in the SEC while the Tigers find themselves 10 spots behind their opponent in each respective category.
Butch Thompson and Auburn have had Tennessee’s number in their head-to-head matchups, with the Tigers holding a 98-43 all-time edge dating back to 1948. That trend has continued during Thompson’s tenure, as Auburn has gone 10-6 against the Vols over the past decade.
This weekend’s series will open with a 4:30 p.m. CST first pitch on Friday and wrap up with a 12:00 p.m. CST start on Sunday. All games will be televised on ESPN+ as the Tigers look to take the series on the road.
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Will is a freshman majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in the spring of 2025.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @willdembo
