AUBURN | Who does Butch Thompson give the most credit to for Auburn not having a letdown at Ole Miss last weekend coming off back-to-back series wins at No. 2 South Carolina and against No. 1 LSU?
The same guy he’s been praising all season for his leadership on and off the field.
“This is the Kason Howell effect and that’s why our team is ready to play,” said Thompson. “That’s why our team didn’t have a letdown after beating the No. 1 team in America and went on the road and played their best series of the year.
“The wins should go toward those players and the leadership of Kason Howell. And the losses should come to Coach Thompson and nobody else. That’s how you want a program to be constructed.”
No. 19 Auburn will need that same level of commitment and mental toughness this week hosting Missouri for the final conference series of the regular season.
Both teams come into the series on a winning streak and playing for something important. Auburn has won four consecutive series including a sweep at Ole Miss last weekend and is trying to secure a postseason bid and perhaps take a step forward in potentially hosting an NCAA Regional.
Mizzou has won five of its last six games and is battling Mississippi State and Georgia for the final two spots in next week’s SEC Tournament.
Thompson is emphasizing the same approach from his players this week and is counting on Howell to spread that message.
“I think there have been times on great runs where a coach or player starts thinking, ‘I’ve got to do more.’ I think when you force a game, bad things happen,” said Thompson. “We’re just trying to get to the same mindset to go compete again.
“We’ll be ready to play a hot-as-a-firecracker team like every week it seems we’re doing.”
Auburn, 30-19-1 overall and 14-13 in the SEC, hosts Missouri (30-20, 10-17) for a three-game series beginning Thursday night at 6 p.m. CT and continuing Friday night at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m. All three games will be carried on SECN+/ESPN+.
HERBERHOLZ SIDELINED: The good news for Christian Herberholz is he didn’t suffer any ligament damage last Saturday and has what Thompson calls a pronator injury. The junior right-hander, who has allowed just two earned runs in his last four SEC starts, will sit out the Missouri series and SEC Tournament. “We did get a good report and we will point toward having him back. We’ll give him a week off and start throwing to get back to a Regional if we can get there,” said Thompson.
TBA SATURDAY: With Herberholz out, AU’s pitching rotation will be sophomore right-hander Chase Allsup (0-1, 7.24) Thursday, graduate left-hander Tommy Vail (5-1, 3.34) Friday and TBA Saturday. Possibilities for the third slot include Konner Copeland, Tanner Bauman, Drew Nelson or Zach Crotchfelt unless any of them are needed to win one of the first two games.
“I just think we need to take it a game at a time,” said Bauman. “Focus on one game, get the win, and we’ll look forward to that when it comes. We just need someone else to step up. We’ve been talking about it all year. Someone just has to keep stepping up and I think we’ve been doing that.”
SCOUTING MIZZOU: The visiting Tigers are 13th in the SEC with a .272 batting average, 14th with 340 runs scored, 10th with 76 home runs, 5th with 53 stolen bases, 10th with a 5.81 ERA, 11th with 458 strikeouts and 13th with a .970 fielding percentage. Senior third baseman Luke Mann is batting .326 with 20 home runs and 51 RBI and senior first baseman Hank Zeisler .313 with 15 home runs and 57 RBI. The Mizzou rotation will be senior. RHP Chandler Murphy (4-4, 5.54) Thursday, junior LHP Javyn Pimental (1-0, 6.52) Friday and freshman RHP Logan Lunceford (3-5, 5.71) Saturday.
LAST STAND: Barring AU moving up into a top 16 NCAA seed, this will be the last games at Plainsman Park for a number of Auburn upperclassmen. Right fielder Bobby Peirce is one of 11 seniors or graduates on the team. There’s also nine juniors. “It’s going to be sad in a way but at the same time, I want to enjoy it,” said Peirce. “I don’t want to put too much stress on it. Being the last game, I want to treat as any other series. It’s going to be weird playing these last few games here for sure.”
