Preview: Auburn Baseball welcomes Samford to the Plains

Luke Jarvis (9). Auburn baseball vs Missouri on Saturday, March 31, 2018, in Auburn, Ala. Dakota Sumpter / Auburn Athletics

Auburn opens a tough week by welcoming the Samford Bulldogs to Plainsman Park Tuesday at 6 P.M. CT

The last time these two got together, it, for lack of a better term, wasn’t pretty. Samford scored seven runs in innings 2-through-4 and continued to pile on until the final out was recorded, blasting Auburn 12-3. The loss was a hangover from a very disappointing trip to Fayetteville, where the highly-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks took all three games from Auburn.

Will Holland provided all the offense for Auburn in that game by scoring two in the 3rd inning on a double and nailing a solo home run in the 5th inning. He, along with Judd Ward, were the only Tigers to record multiple hits in the contest.

Since then, Auburn has won two straight SEC series, including a historical sweep on the road at Alabama most recently, proving that April 1oth seems like a decade ago in their minds.

Tonight, Auburn’s Jack Owen (1-2, 8.83 ERA) will face Hamp Skinner (4-1, 4.41 ERA) of Samford.

Notes from the Last Series

Auburn outscored Alabama 44-10 in their first three-game sweep over the Crimson Tide since 1976. Yes, I know that this stat has been plastered all over social media since early Sunday morning… it’s just fun to look at. When you add the 12-2 thumping of UAB into the equation, Auburn outscored their opponents 56-12 last week, which were the most runs in one week of play for the Tigers since scoring an amazing 60 in a week back in 2002.

Casey Mize struck out eight batters in Friday’s win, which moved him past Tim Hudson on the all-time strikeout list with 262 career ring-ups.

Steven Williams was named co-SEC Freshman of the Week. Williams reached base at least twice in all four games the Tigers played last week, scoring eight times. He went 6-for-10 with eight RBI, reaching base 11 times. His 38 RBI on the season are second in the SEC among freshmen, two less than teammate and SEC freshman RBI leader Edouard Julien (40).

In game one on Saturday, Tanner Burns and Cody Greenhill combined to shut out the Crimson Tide. The 5-0 win was the first time that Auburn has shut out Alabama since 1990.

Looking Ahead to This Week

The offensive revival that happened last week could not have come at a better time. If Auburn can carry even 1/3 of the momentum they gained last week into this week’s gauntlet, this team will be the talk of the nation.

The always tough Samford Bulldogs, led by Auburn alum Casey Dunn, will visit the Plains today in hopes of cooling off the scorching-hot Tigers. However, playing in Auburn has proven friendly to the Tigers, who boast a 17-1 non-conference record, and a 6-0 mark for midweek games in the friendly confines of Plainsman Park.

Once Samford leaves town, Auburn will load up and travel to Gainesville to face the Florida Gators for a three-game series beginning Thursday night. The defending National Champs are ranked #1 in three of four major polls heading into the week (ranked #2 behind Stanford according to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association).

How to Watch, How to Listen

Tonight’s game against Samford will be available to watch online from SEC Network plus. Andy Burcham will handle play-by-play duties alongside Chris Morrison. Audio will also be provided by the Auburn Sports Network. The “Voice of the Tigers” Rod Bramblett, as well as Brad Law will have the call beginning at 5:45 P.M. central time. You can also listen to Auburn Baseball on the TuneIn Radio app, just search “Auburn Sports Network.” In Auburn, the game can be heard locally on Tiger 93.9.