Ready for a reset
AUBURN | One week. That’s how long before Auburn will play in an NCAA Regional.
And those seven days off to rest and prepare couldn’t have come at a better time for a worn out group of players.
“I think the rest will be good for our ball club,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “I think (Matt) Scheffler, I have no stat to prove it, but I think he may have received more pitches than any catcher in the SEC. We weren’t able to play him yesterday. He got back in there today. I think for us to be our best, a fresh Matt Scheffler at the catching position would help our cause tremendously.
“I think allowing some of our hitters that I really believe in like Edouard Julien, I was hoping that would be the game-winning hit, to get out of the frame for a few days, reset, I think that will go a long way to helping us. Get Tanner Burns back in the next turn will be huge for us, will be a shot in the arm.”
Burns is expected to start game one or two of the Regional after sitting out the SEC Tournament with a sore shoulder. Burns and Jack Owen, the Tigers’ top two starters, have both missed multiple starts this season with injuries while opening day starter Davis Daniel made it just two innings before an elbow injury and subsequent Tommy John surgery ended his season.
Despite the pitching injuries and less than expected production out of the top three returning position players — Julien, Will Holland and Steven Williams — Auburn managed to win 14 SEC games, win its opening game of the SEC Tournament and go into this weekend with a No. 20 NCAA RPI.
Thompson plans to give his players a couple of days off to recharge their batteries while also putting in the work to try and take a step forward this week and play their best baseball when it counts the most.
“If you can ever get a team to reset and get a little bit stronger and you haven’t quit and you haven’t died yet and you’ve still got some fight in you, I think you can start building a narrative for a ball club to say there are four teams standing in your way of what all these young men started in August, all of our teams that are here started that journey in August of wanting that opportunity to get in that tournament,” Thompson said.
“That’s what I’ll be pushing. I’ll be trying to get them recuperated, freshened up, try to keep them fighting and excited about the tournament and getting to try to go do it again with a fresher group.”
The full 64-team NCAA field and the Regional matchups will be announced Monday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPNU. Baseball America currently projects Auburn as a No. 2 seed in the Louisville Regional while D1 Baseball has the Tigers as a No. 3 seed in Louisville.