Challenging week ahead

AUBURN | Off to the second-best start in school history, No. 13 Auburn will face a big test this week with five home games including the conference-opening series against No. 9 Texas A&M.

The Tigers, 15-1 on the season, host Georgia Tech Tuesday and Memphis Wednesday before the Aggies visit this weekend.

“I don’t want Tuesday and Wednesday to weaken us for the weekend so we’ve got to have a great plan, not just on the weekend, but for Tuesday and Wednesday as well,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said.

Thompson announced freshman right-hander Ryan Hoerter will start against the Yellow Jackets, and freshman left-hander Jack Owen is the favorite to earn the start against Memphis.

“There might be a couple of freshmen starting this midweek and we’ll see what they can do for us,” Thompson said. “We need to keep developing the ball club even though the conference is starting on the weekend. It’s a good week to play two games and hold our focus on playing ballgames while we’re not in class.”

Georgia Tech, 9-6, was swept at Clemson last weekend. The team is batting .320 with 21 home runs. Outfielder Chase Murray is hitting .433 with four doubles, two home runs and 12 RBI, catcher Kyle McCann is batting .400 with five home runs and eight RBI and designated hitter Joey Bart is hitting .364 with five home runs and nine RBI.

Memphis, 6-10, is hitting just .247 as a team with nine home runs. Centerfielder Tyler Webb has a team-high .356 average with seven doubles, one home run and nine RBI.

Texas A&M, 16-1, hosts UT Arlington Tuesday before traveling to Plainsman Park. The Aggies lead the SEC with a .328 average and a 2.05 ERA, and are 11th with .972 fielding percentage. Foster Logan is hitting a team-high .397 with four doubles, five home runs and 25 RBI. He’s one of six starters batting over .300.

BASEBALL NOTES

** Auburn is third in the SEC with a .317 average, tied for fifth with 19 home runs, fourth with 38 doubles, 10th with a 3.06 ERA and ninth with a .975 fielding percentage.

** The Tigers didn’t hit their 19th home run last year until April 18, 40 games into the season. Auburn hit nine home runs last week including six against Northeastern Saturday.

** Auburn has totaled 147 runs through 16 games, marking the most runs to this point in a season since scoring 149 runs through 16 games in 2002. The Tigers run total ranks sixth in the NCAA and the team’s 9.2 runs per game lead the conference and rank fifth in the country.

** All nine members of Auburn’s lineup have 10 or more RBI. Auburn is the only team in the country that has nine players with 10 or more RBI.

** Junior first baseman Brendan Vanter is second in the SEC with a .467 batting average. He has four home runs and 16 RBI.

** Brett Wright led Auburn with a .500 average last week along with three home runs and six RBI. On the season, the junior catcher is hitting .344 with a team-high five home runs and 12 RBI.

** Freshman Steven Williams is hitting .361 with five doubles, three home runs and a team-high 19 RBI. Freshman Edouard Julien is hitting .359 with three doubles, three home runs and is second on the team with 17 RBI.

** Casey Mize was named SEC Pitcher of the Week after throwing Auburn’s first no-hitter since 2002 and ninth in program history Friday vs. Northeastern. He struck out a career-high 13 batters - the most by an Auburn pitcher since 2012 - and threw 105 pitches, 77 of which were strikes.

** Cody Greenhill threw 6.2 scoreless innings last week to lower his ERA to an SEC-best 0.49. The freshman right-hander leads Auburn with three saves and has struck out 20 in 18.1 innings.