AUBURN | The battle for the SEC West is on and No. 16 Auburn is right in the thick of the race heading into the final two series of the regular season.

The Tigers play the first of three games at No. 5 Ole Miss Thursday night. With matching 13-11 conference records, the two teams are tied for second place in the West, one game behind No. 6 Arkansas and just a game ahead of both No. 20 Texas A&M and LSU in a wide open race.

“We’ve got to go try and play our best baseball and when we’ve got a chance to win, go for it,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “We’re just trying to be the best version of ourselves. But yea, we’re trying to win the West. We’re trying to win everything that we possibly can.

“I’ve told this group for two and a half years like a broken record, people don’t fail because they aim high and miss, it’s because they aim low and hit. I want us to win a championship, whether it’s the West or the next step, the tournament, I want this program to win a championship.”

It’s been quite a turnaround over the last four weeks. After a 4-8 start to conference play, Auburn has reeled off nine wins in their last 12 games including a series win over Mississippi State and sweeps of Alabama and Vanderbilt.

“Hopefully, we’ve built some confidence back,” Thompson said. “But I don’t want to forget about the 4-8. That’s where we found our team. With three of our four coaches being new and half of our ball club being new, I thought the 4-8 allowed us to find ourselves.”

With Thursday-Saturday series the last two weekends, Thompson has decided to keep Casey Mize and Tanner Burns in their regular starting spots on Friday and Saturday. That means Thursday’s opening game start will go to Davis Daniel, who hasn’t started since April 14.

He’s made three relief appearances since including striking out two of the four batters he faced in the ninth inning of Sunday’s win over Vanderbilt, hitting 96 miles per hour on his fastball. He’s made a couple of adjustments in his delivery including holding his glove higher.

“I think it’s got his arm up a little bit more, got him a little bit aggressive,” Thompson said. “I would encourage Davis, with these changes he’s made, to just play one inning at a time. He may not have as much endurance or pace from that, but we might get more quality pitches.”

Some of Davis’ best outings have been on the road. He held Kentucky to a run on three hits in 5.0 innings March 25, and two of his three SEC wins in 2017 came at Georgia and Tennessee.

“I’m going to come out firing Thursday night and see how far we can get,” Daniel said. “It’s going to be a blast. I like pitching on the road. The SEC is fun. I kind of like the chirp. I kind of like people yelling at you. It adds to the environment and begins a little more to the table. It’s a lot of fun. I’m excited.”

Game one is scheduled for Thursday night at 6 p.m. CT on ESPNU. Friday’s game is at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday’s at 4 p.m., with both airing on SECN+ and WatchESPN.

A LOOK AT THE REBELS

Ole Miss, 25-4 at home, are second in the SEC in batting average (.302), third in doubles (103), fifth in home runs (59), sixth in team ERA (3.86), second in strikeouts (461) and sixth in fielding percentage (.979).

Junior right fielder Ryan Olenek leads the SEC with a .414 average along with 17 doubles, three home runs and 25 RBI. Junior designated hitter Chase Cockrell is hitting .352 with seven home runs and 29 RBI and sophomore left fielder Thomas Dillard is hitting .299 with 11 home runs and 48 RBI.

Sophomore right-hander Parker Caracci leads a deep bullpen with a 3-2 record, 2.14 ERA and eight saves.

“They run some real velocity out of the bullpen late,” Thompson said. “They’re good at the beginning, the middle and the end, and they’re able to throw competitive arms all weekend. Time and time again, their offense has showed up and blistered the ball. We’ve got our hands full. It’s just our job to make sure they have their hands full as well."

Ole Miss announced Wednesday that preseason All-American reliever Dallas Woolfolk has left the team. He was 1-1 this season with a 2.51 ERA and six saves.

AUBURN NOTES

** Auburn is eighth in the SEC in batting (.286), seventh in doubles (89), sixth in home runs (55), seventh in ERA (3.88), third in strikeouts (451) and ninth in fielding (.974).

** The Tigers are hitting .316 and averaging 9.5 runs in their last 10 conference games. Auburn has homered in six-straight games totaling 13 during the stretch.

** Auburn’s 55 home runs are the most since 2010 and 25 more than the team hit last season. Newcomers Edouard Julien (13), Brendan Venter (11), Brett Wright (9) and Steven Williams (8) have accounted for 41 of the home runs.

** Auburn is 27-0 when scoring five or more runs

** Venter has a six-game hitting streak in which he’s hitting .571 with three doubles, four home runs and eight RBI. He’s raised his average 32 points from .285 to a team-best .317. He’s second on the team with 11 home runs.

** In the last four games, Jay Estes is 10-of-15 with four-straight multi-hit games. He’s raised his average 34 points from .276 to .310, which is now second on the team.

** Auburn’s pitching staff has allowed eight earned runs and has a 40-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in the last four games.

** Casey Mize is the reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week after striking out 15 against Vanderbilt last Friday. It's the most strikeouts in a league game since 2012.