AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn begins the grind of Southeastern Conference play with a three-game series at No. 4 Ole Miss. First pitches at Swayze Field are scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT, Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
"This will be 10 sincere weeks. Whether you have success on a weekend or whether you're challenged on the weekend, I think it's important to maintain some balance and commit to competing and doing the best you can over a 10-week period," head coach Butch Thompson said. "We won't look past that. That's what's in front of us right now. We'll get after it starting tomorrow and then look back up in 10 weeks and see where we're at and see what's next."
All three games in Oxford, Mississippi, can be heard on the Auburn Sports Network and will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday – Sr. RHP Cody Greenhill (2-0, 1.88) vs. Jr. RHP Gunnar Hoglund (2-0, 3.04)
Saturday – So. RHP Mason Barnett (2-0, 0.51) vs. So. RHP Drew McDaniel (2-0, 1.80)
Sunday – TBA vs. So. RHP Derek Diamond (1-2, 5.21)
QUICK HITTERS
Auburn enters the weekend ranked in the top 10 in the country in hits (185, 3rd), runs (149, 4th), scoring (9.3, 9th), slugging (.528, 9th) and home runs (25, 10th).
In 34 games since the start of last season, the Tigers have recorded the most hits (395) and have scored the fourth most runs (307) in Division I.
Auburn has hit 25 home runs through 16 games and is tied with the pace the 2010 team that set the program record with 131 home runs had through 16 games.
Kason Howell hit his first career home run Tuesday, becoming the 11th Auburn player to homer this season. The Tigers haven't had 11 players homer in a season since 2010.
Twenty-three of Auburn's 38 players have yet to compete in a SEC game.
Auburn has utilized 14 different starting lineups through 16 games this season.
The Tigers are 88-90-1 all-time against Ole Miss, including 33-51-1 against the Rebels in Oxford.
Auburn has been swept in Oxford three straight series after winning back-to-back series in 2010 and 2012.
SCOUTING THE REBELS
Ole Miss enters SEC play ranked No 4 in the country. The Rebels have posted a 13-4 overall record and are coming off a 13-1 midweek loss at Louisiana Tech.
The Rebels opened the season with three straight wins against top-10 opponents as the State Farm College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas, and have won two of three weekend series since.
Ole Miss ranks 11th in the league with a .276 batting average and eighth with a 3.44 ERA.
Friday night starter Gunnar Hoglund leads the conference with 42 strikeouts in 23.2 innings pitched.
‘10 sincere weeks’: Auburn opens SEC play at No. 4 Ole Miss
