Thompson looking for more consistency from offense
RALEIGH, N.C. | It’s been feast or famine for Auburn’s offense the last five weeks of the season.
The Tigers are 14-9 over their last 23 games, scoring nine or more runs in 10 of the 14 wins and four or fewer runs in eight of the nine losses. Third-year head coach Butch Thompson is hoping for more consistency from his lineup as No. 2 seed Auburn opens the Raleigh Regional against No. 3 seed Northeastern Friday.
“I don’t care about your batting average, I don’t care about anything, this is a new, fresh start and go play and have a blast doing it,” Thompson said. “Our offense is capable but our consistency is going to be paramount for us having success in this tournament. And I’ve been bragging for the last two weeks how well we’ve pitched and this may be where offense wins for us. You just never know.”
Last week’s SEC Tournament was a microcosm of Auburn’s Jekyll and Hyde approach at the plate. The Tigers won the first two games of the tournament, 4-3 over Kentucky and 9-3 over Ole Miss, batting .247 with four doubles and two home runs. In the final two games, a 4-2 loss to Texas A&M and a 7-0 loss to Ole Miss, Auburn batted .143 with just two doubles.
In all four games combined, Auburn scored just three runs in the first six innings.
Having a better and more consistent approach at the plate was a focus for the Tigers leading up to the Regional.
“I think the time was great for us to shorten our swings up a little bit, try to hit some hard line drives,” said sophomore Will Holland, who is hitting .315 with 15 doubles, 11 home runs and 46 RBI. “That’s what we’ve been doing lately, just trying to hit some one-hoppers through the infield and really shorten our swings up. I’m really confident in where we are right now, and I think we’re ready to go.”
Auburn’s hitters may have caught a little break in the opener as Northeastern ace Sean Mellen, who held the Tigers to two hits in 8.0 innings of a 2-1 win back on March 11, won’t be starting Friday’s game. Instead, the Huskies will turn to Tyler Brown, who allowed seven earned runs on six hits in 5.0 innings of a 14-8 loss to Auburn March 10.
“Mellen pitched twice for us last weekend, so I just want to be careful with him a little bit,” Northeastern coach Mike Glavine said. “He started on Thursday, and he didn’t pitch his best, so I took him out early. He took the ball again for us Saturday in relief, so with short rest in the sense of pitching that much in a weekend, I didn’t want to go with him tomorrow, give him an extra day.
"If we need him, I guess we can take him out of the bullpen, but I really don’t want him to do that. I’d rather have him prepared and ready to go for Saturday or Sunday.”
First pitch at Doak Field is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN3. Game two between No. 1 seed N.C. State and No. 4 seed Army is scheduled for 6 p.m.