Butch Thompson and Auburn's coaching staff had a plan for Blake Burkhalter’s return on Tuesday night against Troy: pitch for one out and see how he feels.

Things didn’t go as planned for the closer. After hitting the first batter he faced and getting a groundout to end the eighth inning, Burkhalter knew that he needed to go back out to start the ninth and let pitching coach Tim Hudson know so.

“I came in, and I was like, ‘Huddy, I need another, at least another out just to get out there and make sure I’m sharp for this weekend,’” the right-hander said.

Burkhalter had his good stuff in that extra inning of work, sitting the Trojans down in order while striking out two. It was his first appearance since leaving the first game against Tennessee with a hamstring injury, not pitching in last week’s series versus Arkansas despite being on call if needed. After shaking out the early cobwebs, Burkhalter got better and better in the ninth inning against Troy.

“The last pitch was his best pitch,” Thompson said. “He drove a fastball down and away to perfection. And he started feeling like he was being himself.”

The pitcher agreed with his coach.

“I think the first batter, I may have been kind of timid a little bit, taking it easy, and I just didn’t have any command,” Burkhalter said. “But then once I threw the second batter, I was like all, ‘Okay, I’m starting to feel pretty good.’”

As Thompson admits, that is a big shot in the arm as the Tigers get back the SEC’s leader in saves (11) as they welcome rival Alabama to Plainsman Park for a big three-game series. The performance against Troy, even in a blowout, also gave Burkhalter trust in his health and pitching again.

“It’s definitely a great confidence booster,” the junior said. “I need to go out there and make sure I can ramp it up and hold some velocity a little bit and get the job done. It felt really good.”