AUBURN, Ala. – No. 12 Auburn (13-3) opens its 10-week Southeastern Conference slate at No. 8 Vanderbilt (15-3) this weekend in Nashville. First pitches at Hawkins Field are scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. CT, Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Up Next:
No. 8 Vanderbilt
Friday-Sunday, Mar. 15-17, 2024
TV: SEC Network+
Radio: Auburn Sports Network
"Our team is excited about going to Vanderbilt to start conference play," head coach Butch Thompson said. "It's another great Vanderbilt team. It looks like a consensus top-10 team. That's how we'll start conference play for the first few weeks, but all 10 weeks usually feel the same with the challenges that are ahead against high-quality teams."
The games will be broadcast on the Auburn Sports Network and can be heard locally on Wings 94.3 FM on Friday and either Wings 94.3 FM or AU100 100.3 FM Saturday and Sunday. The contests will also be streamed digitally on SEC Network+.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday – Jr. RHP Chase Allsup (1-0, 5.30) vs. Jr. LHP Carter Holton (2-0, 5.00)
Saturday – Jr. LHP Carson Myers (1-1, 3.63) vs. Jr. RHP Bryce Cunningham (2-0, 2.61)
Sunday – R-Jr. RHP Joseph Gonzalez (2-1, 8.38) vs. Jr. LHP Devin Futrell (2-0, 3.68)
QUICK HITTERS
Auburn opens SEC play on the road for the second straight season and is looking for its first road series win on SEC Opening Weekend since 2012.
The Tigers are coming off the program's best SEC record (17-13) since 2010 and have finished top five in the league in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2002-03.
The team has continued to homer in every game to start the season, including nine straight games with multiple home runs.
The 16 straight games with a home run is the longest streak since 2010 (26).
The nine straight games with multiple homers is tied for the longest streak in the stat crew era (since at least 1993) - 2008-09 (9).
This weekend begins a stretch of four straight series against top 10 teams to start SEC play, including three teams in the top five.
Auburn leads the all-time series against Vanderbilt 98-66 but is looking for the first series win in Nashville since 2001 (4-17).
SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
Vanderbilt enters SEC Opening Weekend with a 15-3 overall record and riding a 10-game winning streak in which they are outscoring the opponent 95-41.
Offensively, the Commodores are hitting .316 as a team, good for the fifth best average in the league, and rank second in the SEC in doubles (46). Sophomore infielder RJ Austin leads the way with a .361 average and is one of four players hitting .333 or better.
On the mound, Vanderbilt has turned in a 4.19 staff ERA and has 191 strikeouts in 159.0 innings pitched.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Everything you need to know about Hawkins Field, which has a clear bag policy, can be found here.