AUBURN | Auburn’s season isn’t over but a 1-11 start to conference play leaves little margin for error over the remaining six SEC weekends.
The Tigers have an opportunity to start righting the ship this weekend against their top rival. Auburn travels to Alabama for a three-game series beginning Thursday night.
“We understand that. Our players understand that, that we have to play better, that our backs are against the wall,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “But it is still pretty engaging and pretty neat that you wake up with something sincerely to play for and to compete for and keep growing from each and every day, which we find ourselves.
“We do know that the time is now.”
Auburn broke a five-game losing streak Tuesday night with a 7-3 win at No. 20 Georgia Tech. Steven Williams, who came into the game batting .229, went 2 of 4 with a double, home run and four RBI.
“Yeah, that was big for me,” said Williams, who has 28 home runs and 120 RBI in his career. “I’ve been working on a lot of things and it hadn’t paid off quite yet, but having a game like that yesterday gives me a lot of confidence going into this weekend.
“All around, I thought we played a really good game. To carry that into this weekend would be really big for us.”
Williams isn’t the only AU player starting to heat up. Bryson Ware is 4 of 12 with three home runs and five RBI in his last four games. Ryan Bliss has a hit in 11 of 12 SEC games including eight multiple-hit games.
On the mound, Cody Greenhill is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in his last five starts. Peyton Glavine hasn’t allowed a run in his last three outings, Will Morrison has allowed just one hit in five appearances, and Carson Swilling struck out the side in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s win over the Yellow Jackets. Carson Skipper and Hayden Mullins are getting closer to their pre-injury form.
“A guy like (Williams) clicking in for a run here, that’s how you’re going to win ballgames. That’s good to see,” said Thompson. “A guy like Bryson Ware is a first-year player but has a chance to hit a home run every time he steps to the plate. If that starts happening with … some consistency, then you’ll start winning some ballgames.
“We have advertised. We have called it out. We’ve tried to be honest and realistic this whole way. If some pieces and things start happening on the mound, a lot of this stuff can start falling our way too.”
Alabama, 20-12 overall and 5-7 in the SEC, comes into the series on a four-game winning streak including a road sweep of Texas A&M. The Tide is ninth in the SEC hitting .273, seventh with 42 home runs, 10th with 213 runs scored, ninth with a 3.91 team ERA, 11th with 303 strikeouts and fourth with a .978 fielding percentage.
Auburn, 13-16 overall, is fourth in the SEC hitting .289, fourth with 45 home runs, ninth with 217 runs scored, 13th with a 5.21 team ERA, 14th with 239 strikeouts and fifth with a .977 fielding percentage.
“It’s extremely crucial,” said Williams of playing eight games in the next 10 days. “Everybody knows that we haven’t had the start to conference play that we wanted. But I don’t think we’re out of it yet. I’m really confident in what we have. We have to go out and win a bunch of ballgames, but we’re confident we’re going to be able to do that.”
Game times for the series are 6 p.m. CT Thursday and Friday, and 4 p.m. Saturday. Thursday’s game will be on SEC Network while Friday’s and Saturday’s will be on SECN+/ESPN+.
