Time is becoming an issue for Mickey Dean, whose team plays its final regular-season series this weekend at Arkansas ahead of the SEC Tournament.

Auburn found itself atop the conference standings one month ago. Since then, however, ace pitcher Makayla Martin went down with a hand injury and the team's output at the plate dropped precipitously. Now the Tigers find themselves tied for seventh place and in dire need of some prosperity to create postseason momentum.

Dean said this week that his team's hitting issues — it's scored a total of six runs during its past six games — are a function of passivity.

"I see us not going with the pitch. I see us taking too many strikes," Dean said. "I see us not capitalizing more in a hitter’s count. We’re not looking to hit the ball and we’re missing those opportunities. We don’t work on taking pitches; we work on hitting the ball. We just haven’t done a good job of it."

Dean believes the Tigers's hitters did a "decent" job of discerning good pitches from bad ones against Florida last weekend, but All-American pitcher Kelly Barnhill was simply too good. Arkansas lacks an ace of Barnhill's qualifications, but nonetheless has posted a respectable 3.15 earned run average in league games this season.

Auburn's league ERA is 4.42.

Those kinds of numbers affect Dean just as much.

"Everybody always wants to talk about hitting," he said. "It’s also the mentality of it — defense and pitching has to keep you in it."

To that end, the Tigers may be adjusting their rotation a bit this weekend. Sophomore Chardonnay Harris was masterful during her Saturday start against Florida — conceding just one run and striking out 17 batters during the Tigers' extra-inning victory.

Can she be repurposed as a two-start pitcher this weekend? Maybe Friday and Sunday?

"You have to be there physically to do that," Dean said. "It's up to her. Is the ability there? Absolutely. You also have to have that physical and mental growth. You don’t want to make a mistake with that — especially when somebody has been progressing the way she has."

With Martin still sidelined, Harris is the only healthy Auburn pitcher proving herself capable of retiring SEC hitters. The problem for Harris is durability. Though she has a listed height of 5-foot-10, Harris is slender and admits that longer outings take a toll on her body.

"Normally after a day of pitching, I’m just beat," Harris said.

Still, Harris said she was energized after the strong Saturday performance against Florida — and believes she now in better position to handle a two-start trip.

"I had a couple hard weekends where I kinda jinxed myself out starting on a Friday," she said. "I feel like there is more pressure on Saturdays and I like that, I like being that make-or-break person, but I’m ready to step up and fill those (Friday-Sunday) shoes if needed."

AUBURN at ARKANSAS
Friday, 6 p.m. CDT (SEC Network +)
Saturday, 5 p.m. CDT (ESPNU)
Sunday, 1 p.m. CDT (SEC Network whip-around coverage)