AUBURN, Ala. – Of the 16 baseball teams in the newly expanded Southeastern Conference, 12 are ranked in at least one of the national preseason polls, including the Auburn Tigers, ranked No. 22 by Perfect Game.
“We have to earn it,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “It’s a challenging schedule. Playing in this league gives you every opportunity to write your own script.”
With a mix of 19 returners, including preseason All-America catcher Ike Irish, and 21 newcomers – 12 members of the No. 3 freshman class and nine from the No. 4 transfer portal class – Auburn starts Thompson’s 10th season Feb. 14-16 hosting Holy Cross for opening weekend on the Plains.
Throughout the three-week ramp-up to opening day, construction continues at Plainsman Park, where fans can now enjoy the opportunity to sit atop the War Eagle Wall in left field along with new premium spaces.
“Our fans have done an amazing job,” Thompson said, referencing Auburn’s fifth consecutive season ticket sellout and third straight record number of season tickets sold.
With all of the details that go into assembling a winning team, Thompson simplifies the process for his players, emphasizing one goal for hitters and one for pitchers.
“I want our guys to run as hard as they can, home to first,” Thompson said. “I want our team to run home to first harder than anybody in college baseball. “Will that bleed into other things? I think so.”
On the mound, Auburn plans to allow many of the Tigers to call their own pitches, a system that has paid dividends in previous seasons.
“I want such a commitment to the strike zone,” Thompson said. “That’s where we have to make the biggest turnaround if we want to get to where we’ve been able to get to in the past, and make a difference on the field, it’s got to start with strike percentage on the mound.
“Getting Auburn baseball back to what we were doing is a pitching staff that can throw the highest percentage of strikes that we possibly can put together, and then let the players make the lineup out from there.”