AUBURN, Ala. – No. 6 Auburn (25-11, 8-7 SEC) starts the second half of Southeastern Conference play with a three-game series at No. 7 Florida (27-11, 9-6) Thursday through Saturday.
First pitches at Condron Family Ballpark are scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. CT, Friday at 4:30 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m.
“The rest of the year, I’m trying to sell to our guys that it’s an unbelievable opportunity, and it’s all about us playing ball,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “We’ve been through a lot – the good, the bad, the ugly, and everywhere in between – and we’ve learned a ton of lessons with our ballclub. This is just an awesome part of something they’ve earned, and they got to go play at some great places and play some amazing teams. We want to consider ourselves one of those types of teams, too. It’s time to just go play ball. It’s time to turn it loose, learn some lessons and function collectively as a group.”
The games will be broadcast on the Auburn Sports Network and can be heard locally on Wings 94.3 FM. All three games will also be broadcast on national television with games one and two on SEC Network and game three on ESPN2.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday – So. RHP Andreas Alvarez (6-1, 1.24) vs. So. RHP Aiden King (5-2, 1.74)
Saturday – So. LHP Jake Marciano (3-2, 1.88) vs. Jr. RHP Liam Peterson (1-2, 3.60)
Sunday – R-So. RHP Alex Petrovic (6-1, 2.66) vs. Jr. RHP Russell Sandefer (2-1, 4.56)
QUICK HITTERS
Thursday starts a stretch of 12 of the next 15 games being played on the road.
All of Auburn’s last 15 SEC games are against teams currently ranked in the top 15 of a major poll.
Auburn’s pitching staff enters the weekend as the national leader in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.45), WHIP (1.13) and walks allowed per 9.0 innings (2.51).
The pitching staff hasn’t allowed a run in 21 innings dating back to the second inning of the middle game vs. Kentucky.
Starting pitchers this season have turned in a 2.55 ERA with 239 strikeouts and 42 walks in 187.1 innings pitched.
The offense is hitting .353 (94-for-266) with 18 doubles and nine homers in the last eight games.
The team has homered six times in the last two games, accounting for 14 runs.
The Tigers are 23-0 when outhitting the opponent this season and 127-16 in the last five years.
Auburn leads the all-time series with Florida, 135-121-2, but trails, 64-75, in Gainesville.
The Tigers are looking for their first road series win against the Gators since 2013.
SCOUTING THE GATORS
Florida enters the weekend with a 27-11 overall record and 9-6 mark in SEC play. The Gators have swept two conference opponents, and earned a series win over at Georgia last weekend.
Offensively, Florida is hitting .270 as a team, with a .235 mark in league play, and has scored 263 runs on 336 hits. Sophomore infielder Brendan Lawson leads the team with a .347 average and 11 homers, while Ole Miss transfer Ethan Surowiec leads the way with 38 RBI.
On the mound, Florida has a 4.01 staff ERA with 417 strikeouts and 134 walks in 332.0 innings pitched and leads the country with seven shutouts. Game one starter Aidan King is 5-2 with 47 strikeouts to 11 walks in 46.2 innings pitched. His 1.74 ERA is fourth in the SEC.