A cursory glance at Auburn’s record does not come close to telling the full story of the Tigers’ season so far.
Losers of eight out of its past nine Southeastern Conference games, Auburn (19-17, 2-13 SEC) is at the bottom of the standings and in danger of missing the conference tournament. But all five SEC opponents the Tigers have faced — Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Kentucky — were in the top 10 at the time Auburn played them.
Not the case with Mississippi State (23-14, 7-8), which fell out of the D1Baseball Top 25 this week before hosting the Tigers at Dudy Noble field for a three-game series starting Friday evening.
“I thought we had one of the hardest schedules in the first half? They actually have had the hardest schedule in the first half,” Bulldogs head coach Chris Lemonis said after Tuesday’s win over Alcorn State. “They’ve had to play on the road at some tough places, they’ve had to play the hot teams.”
The Tigers also challenged themselves in non-conference play against the likes of Iowa, Virginia and Connecticut, and are coming off a 12-8 midweek win over a solid Georgia Tech team.
Auburn’s offense is led by the dynamic duo of Cooper McMurray and Ike Irish, who are each batting above .340 with 12 and 11 home runs and 48 and 47 runs batted in, respectively. Cooper Weiss and Mason Maners carry batting averages north of .300 as well, and Christian Hall, despite hitting just .224, carries a .911 OPS in 67 at-bats thanks to his .522 slugging percentage.
“They’ve got a pretty good ball club. I really like their lineup,” Lemonis said. “They have some arms in there who have had success and pitched at a high level, but their offense, they have a chance to do some things.”
The pitching staff has been the primary reason for Auburn’s struggles in SEC play. The Tigers are either last or second to last in the conference in ERA (6.12), opponents’ batting average (.282) and strikeouts (322) and have also allowed 61 home runs, more than any other team in the SEC.
Dylan Watts will get the ball for Auburn on Friday evening against MSU ace Khal Stephen. Watts (16 ⅔ innings, 5.93 ERA) has made just two starts this season and has not pitched even three innings in any of his 10 appearances. Left-hander Tanner Bauman (19 IP, 5.21 ERA) starts for the Tigers on Saturday, opposite Jurrangelo Cijntje, and Bauman has also been used almost exclusively out of the bullpen, with just one start and 14 appearances in relief.
Auburn’s Sunday starter, lefty Carson Myers, has been part of the Tigers’ regular rotation, with five starts and four relief appearances and a 4.13 ERA over 32 ⅔ innings. John Armstron is Auburn’s best bullpen arm, with a 2.70 ERA over 23 ⅓ innings with a pair of saves.
Here are three keys to victory for the Bulldogs as they look to rebound from last weekend’s series loss at rival Ole Miss.
Lock it down late
MSU is just 3-9 in one-run games this year, and while there isn’t one single issue to blame, the bullpen — at least outside of high-leverage arms Cam Schuelke, Tyler Davis and Brooks Auger — has been shaky at times. Even after Stephen worked eight innings last Friday night, the Bulldogs were thin on pitching depth last weekend thanks to a short start from Cijntje and a marathon game Saturday, and were running on fumes in Sunday’s blowout loss.
“It’s just finishing,” Lemonis said. “Saturday night, you can’t sleep because there’s six or seven different things. You make one play, one pitch, you win. The Sunday game was an accumulation of the day before. I push that one away, and that happens in baseball. It hadn’t happened to this team a lot.”
Elevate, celebrate
Against a Tigers pitching staff that has struggled in a number of areas but is particularly vulnerable to the long ball, MSU would do well to send a few balls out toward the patrons in the lounge areas. Dakota Jordan, Hunter Hines and Connor Hujsak have combined for 15 home runs in SEC play, while the rest of the team has a total of four. If somebody outside of that trio can bring the crowd to life with a ball over the fence, especially with a runner or two on base, the Bulldogs will be in good shape.
Figure out the best nine
The designated hitter spot is a bit of a black hole for Lemonis and company — MSU has tried Aaron Downs, Jackson McKenzie and Michael O’Brien there recently. The Bulldogs could also give freshman Dylan Cupp the start at shortstop and shift David Mershon to second base, making Amani Larry the DH. Larry and third baseman Logan Kohler are the two bats who the Bulldogs desperately need to get going, as both are slugging worse than .300 in conference play.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
