AUBURN | Auburn and its nation’s best strength of schedule will be facing another top 10 opponent this weekend.
The 5th-ranked Tigers play at No. 7 Tennessee, AU's sixth top 10 opponent of the season including fifth in the last six weeks.
Auburn is 6-7 against top 10 teams but 0-6 on the road including sweeps at No. 2 Georgia March 28-29 and No. 1 Texas April 17-19.
“It’s just a reminder to our ball club that it’s not who we play but how we play. That’ll be important this week,” said head coach Butch Thompson. “I think the blessing of our schedule is that we’ve seen everything. We’ve been on the road. We’ve played on turf. I think we’re tested. I think we’re prepared.”
Auburn enters the series 31-14 overall and 11-10 in the SEC, two games behind the fourth-place Volunteers, which are 36-9 and 13-8.
Tennessee has dropped three of its last four series, at home against Texas A&M and Kentucky and at No. 7 LSU last weekend. UT has a powerful lineup, ranking top five in the country in both home runs (100) and slugging percentage (.577).
Andrew Fischer is batting .309 with 10 doubles, 16 home runs and 44 RBI.
UT ranks fourth nationally with a 3.35 team ERA led by Friday night starter Liam Doyle. The left-hander is 7-1 with an SEC-best 2.23 ERA and a nation’s best 110 strikeouts.
“We’re going to see one of the best pitchers in America tomorrow night, a guy that has absolutely electric stuff,” said Thompson. “You have to come up with other facets of offense. Maybe you won’t stand toe-to-toe, so bring out all of your arsenal and your gamesmanship.
“I think specifically for this weekend, we’re absolutely going to have to run those bases. We’re going to have to take chances even at the expense of maybe looking like we’re running ourselves out of something.”
The series is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday. All three games will be on SECN+/ESPN+.
SECOND START: In his first-career start against Mississippi State last Sunday, Cam Tilly allowed three runs on three hits and three walks in 4.0 innings in a game AU won 14-8. Tilly will start Saturday’s game against Tennessee with AU going TBA for game three. “He had to pitch out of a bases-loaded jam, which he created,” said Thompson. “He got off schedule. The timing of his delivery just really deteriorated. Closing that gap is what we need to see.”
RETURNING TO FORM: Cade Belyeu has started three of the last four games since returning from a shoulder injury. He’s 3 of 11 with four runs scored, one home run and three RBI during that span. “Being in and out of the lineup, it's tough,” said Belyeu. “Just working every day at practice is kind of the biggest thing to compete in the games and be competitive. When you have a coaching staff like this that prepares you for every game, it's a lot easier.”
IN CONTENTION: Auburn entered the third to last conference series last season 21-22 overall and 3-18 in the SEC. The Tigers managed to win five of their last nine conference games and finish 27-26 overall, but it wasn’t close to enough to qualify for the SEC Tournament or postseason play. “A year ago, we were all already making plans for summer, packing our bags,” said Tilly. “But now we have a big chance to go into Tennessee, win the series. If we take care of business on the road, we'll host a regional and a super regional. I think that's really cool. It's something that Auburn deserves, something that I think the world needs to see, this place."
