No. 5 Baseball heads to Starkville for top-10 showdown

No. 5 Baseball heads to Starkville for top-10 showdownNo. 5 Baseball heads to Starkville for top-10 showdown

April 27, 2017 LEADING OFF

  • Auburn hits the road for a top-10 series at No. 8 Mississippi State this weekend at Dudy Noble Field. Friday's game will be available on SECN+/WatchESPN. The Saturday and Sunday games will be broadcast by SEC Network with Clay Matvick and Ben McDonald on the call.
  • Radio coverage from the Auburn Sports Network is also available on Tiger 93.9 in the Auburn/Opelika area. The radio feed is also available on AuburnTigers.com, the TuneIn Radio app and the Auburn Athletics app on your smart phone. The Voice of the Tigers Rod Bramblett and longtime broadcast partner Andy Burcham will describe the action.

Auburn at Mississippi State









Weekend Schedule

Fri.6:30 p.m.
RHP Keegan Thompson (5-1, 1.48) vs. SO LHP Konnor Pilkington (4-3, 3.30)
Sat.7 p.m.
RHP Davis Daniel (3-2, 4.14) vs. SO RHP Cole Gordon (2-0, 4.55)
Sun.12 p.m.
TBA vs. JR RHP Jacob Billingsley (1-0, 4.18)

QUICK HITTERS

  • Jonah Todd is batting .500 with 12 R, 4 XBH and 8 RBI in last 10. He's second in SEC with .384 BA overall.
  • Auburn's No. 5 ranking this week by Baseball America is its highest since being ranked No. 5 on 4/14/2003.
  • Josh Anthony was named SEC Player of the Week after batting .688 (11-for-16) with 3 2B, HR, 6 R, 9 RBI.
  • Keegan Thompson has posted a quality start in 8-of-9 career starts in SEC action at Plainsman Park.
  • The Tigers are 11-3 on the season in one-run games after going 1-11 in those games in 2016.
  • Auburn has won nine of 10 series played in 2017 with the only loss at Texas A&M.
  • The Tigers have hit 11 home runs in their last nine games after recording only 10 in their first 34 contests.
  • Auburn is second in the SEC with a .241 opponent batting average and a 3.33 ERA through six league series.
  • Casey Mize (1.23) and Keegan Thompson (1.48) rank 1st and 4th in the SEC in ERA.
  • Auburn hitters rank 8th in the NCAA and 2nd in the SEC with 96 doubles, including 51 in the last 23 games.
  • With 30 wins (12 SEC) on the season, Auburn has surpassed its overall and conference win totals from 2016.
  • Sophomore right-hander Casey Mize leads the SEC and ranks 13th nationally with 82 strikeouts.
  • After not hitting a grand slam in 276 games since 2012, Auburn had two in a 5 game stretch from April 11-18.
  • RHP Casey Mize was named a D1Baseball Midseason All-American, Butch Thompson was named top coach.
  • Auburn's 4-0 win over UAB was the 7th shutout of the season which ranks first in the SEC and 6th in NCAA.

SERIES HISTORY

MSU leads the all-time series 104-87-1 dating all the way back to 1908. The Bulldogs hold a 53-32 advantage in Starkville. Auburn won the last series at Dudy Noble in 2015 thanks to consecutive shutout performances by Keegan Thompson and Cole Lipscomb on Friday and Saturday.

LOOKING AHEAD

Auburn is off in the midweek to due final exams before hosting rival Alabama for a three-game series at Plainsman Park next weekend. The Crimson Tide are 15-26 (2-16 SEC) on the season and host LSU for three games in Tuscaloosa this weekend. Auburn defeated Alabama 4-3 in the ninth-annual MAX Capital City Classic at Montgomery's Riverwalk Stadium on March 28.