AUBURN | Auburn’s come close, been competitive, but hasn’t been able to pull off a signature series win over a Top 10 program so far this season.

But the Tigers will have at least two more opportunities to do just that starting this weekend at No. 4 Vanderbilt.

“I think this is a huge deal where we’ve come up short in a couple of these series, if we want respect, we’ve got an unbelievable opportunity to try to gain some respect from some people,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said.

Auburn’s been close twice, losing 2 of 3 at No. 4 Mississippi State including a 20-15 loss in a decisive game three, and losing 2 of 3 at home against Arkansas including a 15-inning defeat in game two after winning the opener.

A series win over No. 17 Ole Miss and a blowout 14-2 victory at Jacksonville State Tuesday night has earned AU some much-needed momentum.

“Our team, our offense, I still think can click into something really, really good,” Thompson said. “It hasn’t happened yet and we’re still above water in this league. But if we really want to stabilize something and we really want to get some momentum back that we had like the first 15 games and then we go through a slow stretch. If have we settled ourselves and really want to create some momentum going to Vanderbilt, a great, great program playing arguably as good as anybody in America.”

The Commodores are 31-9 overall and 12-6 in the SEC. They are second in the league in hitting (.311), tied for second in runs scored (321) and second in home runs (54).

Sophomore third baseman Austin Martin leads the SEC batting .400 while junior right fielder JJ Bleday is hitting .363 and leads the conference with 20 home runs and 53 RBI. Sophomore designated hitter Philip Clarke has 47 RBI and senior shortstop Ethan Paul 46 giving Vandy three of the top four RBI leaders in the SEC.

“I think we just tried to chop it down and refocus and got back going again, at least competed to win a series against what I think is a good Ole Miss team. That’s one of the top two or three offenses in the league,” Thompson said. “Now we’re playing the best one and hopefully that was a good test for us because Ole Miss swung with intentions, they hit some home runs, but we hung in there and kept battling. Vanderbilt definitely has that potential top to bottom of their lineup.”

Vanderbilt is sixth in the SEC with a 3.70 team ERA including sophomore right-handed closer Tyler Brown, who is tied with AU’s Cody Greenhill for third with nine saves. VU also leads the SEC with a .982 fielding percentage.

Auburn enters the series 27-14 overall and 10-8 in the conference.

First pitch for Thursday night’s opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU. Friday night’s game will be 7 p.m. on SEC Network while Saturday’s finale will be at 1 p.m. on SECN+.