March 16, 2018
By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" If you had asked Brendan Venter his senior year in high school if he would be playing baseball at Auburn three years later, he might have thought you were crazy.
Venter liked Auburn. He was a big Auburn football fan because Cam Newton was there at the time, and he always thought he would enjoy playing baseball for the Tigers. But as a high school baseball player from Texas, there was no reason to leave the state with programs like Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Texas Tech and Baylor all in your backyard.
"It never really crossed my mind that I was going to leave Texas," Venter said.
It might not have been the path he thought he would take, but Venter did stay in Texas initially. After he was committed to Texas A&M for a short period of time, the Flower Mound native signed with Stephen F. Austin. However, he wound up at McClellan Junior College in Waco where he played the past two seasons and was a two-time All-Conference selection.
Fast forward to the present. Three years have passed since Venter was a senior in high school, and he's now at Auburn where, entering the week, he leads the SEC in hits (28), batting average (.467) and on-base percentage (.562).
The junior-college transfer might be surprised that he found his way to Auburn, but he's not surprised with his torrid start from the plate.
"As a hitter, every single time you go up to the plate, you're expecting to get a hit," Venter said. "You're not going up there thinking, 'Oh, well I already have two hits today. I'm done.' Obviously, you shoot for perfection. You try to get a hit every time you're up there or get on base at least."
Hitting .467, though? Not even Auburn coach Butch Thompson expected that, and he was the one that recruited Venter.
"I think we're getting a little bit more," Thompson said. "You just never know. A guy coming from junior college, and he becomes one of the best in the country just making this transition. You never know. But I think his consistency is born and bred in his approach.
"You get the same professional approach, same work ethic every day. He just has a feel to hit, and his swing has just been so consistent day in and day out whether we're playing a game or hitting in a cage or taking batting practice on the field. His approach is more than I expected because it's very advanced."
Ironically, Thompson recruited Venter to replace Josh Anthony at third base this season. The only thing is Anthony is still on the team, starting at third base for the Tigers.
What happened was the coaches thought that Anthony would get drafted last June and take his talents to the next level, so they signed Venter. When that didn't happen and Anthony returned to school for his senior year, it created a potential log jam at the hot corner where Venter was no longer assured a position in the starting lineup.
"Josh and I actually talked a little bit on draft day about what's coming and all that," Venter said. "When we both found out that it didn't happen for him and the situation wasn't right for me (to go pro) and we were both going to be (at Auburn), we both just kind of embraced it.
"Obviously in the back of your mind, there's a little thought, 'Oh man, this is going to be my junior year.' But we both just kind of sat down and said whatever is going to happen is going to happen. We're just going to get better each and every day, push each other, and it's worked out for the best so far."
With Anthony entrenched at third base, Venter slid over to first base where he's played the majority of the season. As a result, he received the throw from Luke Jarvis to help record the final out of Casey Mize's no-hitter last weekend. He also hit a walk-off single earlier in the season to beat Georgia State, and he hit a go-ahead home run in the 8th inning to lead the Tigers past Bryant in the second game of a double header.
It's been that kind of season for Venter, who will have a chance to produce another signature moment this weekend as Auburn opens SEC play against Texas A&M, the team he was once committed to way back when.
As it stands, the Lone Star native couldn't be happier with where he landed.
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf