AUBURN, Ala. – Winners of its first two SEC road series, No. 17 Auburn (23-10, 7-5 SEC) looks to continue its recent road success with a three-game series at Mississippi State (19-15, 4-8 SEC) this weekend.
Next Games:
at Mississippi State
Apr. 14-16, 2022
7 p.m. | 6 p.m. | 1 p.m. CT
Radio: Auburn Sports Network
First pitches at Dudy Noble Field are scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. CT, Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m.
"We just played the national runner-up last week, now we get the national champion this week," head coach Butch Thompson said. "The same requirements to have success will be the same. Can we take the sting out of their swing? Can we continue to play good defense? Can we get some timely hitting?"
All three games will be broadcast on the Auburn Sports Network and can be heard locally on 93.9 FM. Thursday's game will also air nationally on SEC Network and the final two games are available for streaming on SEC Network+.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Thursday – Jr. LHP Hayden Mullins (2-1, 3.04) vs. Jr. RHP Brandon Smith (2-2, 4.22)
Friday – Jr. RHP Trace Bright (2-3, 3.83) vs. So. RHP Preston Johnson (2-2, 4.26)
Saturday – So. RHP Joseph Gonzalez (4-0, 1.95) vs. So. RHP Cade Smith (4-2, 3.89)
QUICK HITTERS
Auburn defeated Vanderbilt in two of three games last weekend to secure its third straight SEC series win for the first time since 2017. The Tigers haven't won four straight since 2013-14.
Dating back to the final two series of last season, the Tigers have won four straight SEC road series for the first time since 1996-97. The team hasn't won five straight since 1994-95.
Auburn is one of four teams in the league to win three of the first four SEC series, including the only team from the SEC West with two of its three series wins coming away from home.
The team is 9-3 in games away from Plainsman Park, including 4-2 in league play.
The nine wins are tied for the most and the .750 winning percentage is second in the SEC.
The Tigers' win in the series opener against Vanderbilt marked head coach Butch Thompson's 200th win in an Auburn uniform. He is the third Auburn coach to accomplish the feat (Nix, Baird).
Auburn is 93-113-1 all-time against Mississippi State, including 35-59 on the road, but has won two of the last three series in Starkville (2015, 2017).
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Mississippi State enters the weekend with a 19-15 overall record and 4-8 mark in SEC play.
The Bulldogs have a SEC series win against Alabama and series losses at Georgia, at Arkansas and against LSU.
Offensively, Mississippi State is hitting .272 as a team with 59 homers, the third most in the league. Grad transfer RJ Yeager leads the way with a .314 average.
On the mound, the Bulldogs have turned in a 5.23 staff ERA and have struck out 377 batters, the second most in the conference.