AUBURN, Ala. – No. 20 Auburn (37-18, 16-13 SEC) will square off with Kentucky (30-24, 12-18 SEC) for a fourth straight game to begin the SEC Tournament Tuesday night in Hoover, Alabama.
First pitch against the Wildcats at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium will take place approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the third game of the tournament's opening day.
Next Game:
vs. Kentucky
May 24, 2022
TBD
Radio: Auburn Sports Network
"We have to do everything we can to enter the double elimination portion of this deal," head coach Butch Thompson said. "We get another chance against a team we just played that we feel like they didn't see our best and we can do more. We have to execute some things at a higher level."
The game will be broadcast on the Auburn Sports Network and can be heard locally on 93.9 FM. The contest will also be aired nationally on SEC Network.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Tuesday – Sr. LHP Carson Skipper (5-3, 4.81) vs. Gr. RHP Sean Harney (5-4, 2.93)
QUICK HITTERS
Auburn's appearance in the SEC Tournament is its 29th all-time and its fifth straight.
The five straight appearances are the most since making seven straight from 1997-2003.
The No. 5 seed is the team's highest in the tournament since winning the SEC West in 2010.
The Tigers are 35-51 all time in the tournament, including 14-14 in their first game, 4-7 under head coach Butch Thompson and 4-0 against Kentucky.
Auburn turned in a .500 or better record in SEC play for the third time under Thompson. The program had just one such season (20-10, 2010) from 2004 until Thompson's arrival in 2016.
The team is 15-9 in games played away from Plainsman Park this season, including 5-1 in neutral site games with the lone loss coming in the season opener against Oklahoma.
The 15 road and neutral-site wins are tied with Tennessee for the most among SEC teams and are the program's second most away from home since 2003 (16 wins, 2019).
The Tigers' 37 regular-season wins are tied with the 2018 team for the most since 2010 (39).
Auburn has won 20 games this season in which the team has trailed.
Sonny DiChiara became Auburn's third SEC Player of the Year (Tim Hudson, 1997; Hunter Morris, 2010).
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kentucky enters the tournament as the No. 12 seed after going 30-24 overall record and 12-18 in SEC play.
The Wildcats have four series wins against top 25 teams this season and are the only team to defeat No. 1 Tennessee in a weekend.
Offensively, Kentucky is hitting .276 as a team and is led by Daniel Harris' .311 clip. Chase Estep leads the way with 53 runs, 15 doubles, 13 homers, 48 RBI and 16 stolen bases.
On the mound, The Wildcats have turned in a 4.86 staff ERA and have struck out 548 batters in 469.0 innings.
SEC TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
All of the information surrounding the 2022 SEC Baseball Tournament can be found here.