AUBURN, Ala. – On the strength of three straight Southeastern Conference series wins, No. 23 Auburn (27-19-1, 11-13 SEC) is set to take on defending national champion Ole Miss (25-23, 6-18 SEC) in a three-game series in Oxford, Mississippi, this weekend.
Up Next:
at Ole Miss
Thursday-Saturday, May 11-13, 2023
7 p.m. | 6:30 p.m. | 2 p.m. CT
TV: ESPNU (Thu) | SEC Network+ (Fri) | SEC Network (Sat)
Radio: Auburn Sports Network
First pitches at Swayze Field are scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. CT, Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.
"Every year this league comes down to defining moments," head coach Butch Thompson said. "We're going to try to stay on the process. I like where the team is at. I think everybody is giving great effort. We found something, and we just need to hold on to it. I don't need more. We just need to create the same processes these last two weeks that we have the previous three."
All three games will be broadcast on the Auburn Sports Network and can be heard locally on 93.9 FM. The series opener and series finale will air on national TV on ESPNU and SEC Network, respectively. Friday's game will be streamed digitally on SEC Network+.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Thursday – So. RHP Chase Allsup (0-1, 7.20) vs. Jr. LHP Xavier Rivas (5-3, 5.83)
Friday – Gr. LHP Tommy Vail (4-1, 3.68) vs. Fr. RHP JT Quinn (3-2, 5.86)
Saturday – R-Jr. RHP Christian Herberholz (1-3, 4.37) vs. TBA
QUICK HITTERS
Auburn is coming off back-to-back series wins at No. 2 South Carolina and vs. No. 1 LSU.
The Tigers are the only team in the SEC to have won three straight SEC series.
The team's 6-3 record in the second half of SEC play is one game behind LSU and Tennessee for the best in the league during the span.
Auburn's pitching staff held LSU's offense - the second-highest scoring team in the country entering last weekend - to a season-low 11 runs in the series, good for a 3.12 staff ERA.
The team's starting rotation of Chase Allsup, Tommy Vail and Christian Herberholz turned in a 2.77 ERA, allowing four earned runs in 13.0 innings pitched.
The Tigers are one of four teams in the league with five players with 30 or more starts hitting .300 or better - Peirce (.365), Irish (.359), Ware (.348), Foster (.314), McMurray (.309).
Auburn is 89-97-1 all-time against Ole Miss, including 33-54-1 against the Rebels in Oxford.
The Tigers are looking for their first series win in Oxford since 2012.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Ole Miss enters the weekend with a 25-23 overall record and 6-18 mark in SEC play.
The Rebels are 17-12 at home, including 3-9 at Swayze Field in SEC play.
Offensively, Ole Miss is sixth in the league with a .292 batting average and are led by Kemp Alderman in average (.377), hits (72), home runs (19) and RBI (59).
On the mound, the Rebels have turned in a 5.96 staff ERA, including a 7.11 ERA in league games. They have struck out 472 batters in 411.0 innings pitched.