AUBURN | Going into the season, Auburn was counting on its three top returning position players to lead the offense.
Instead, all three are well below their numbers from last year and the Tigers are at the bottom of the SEC in most hitting categories. But there’s still three big weekends left in the regular season and head coach Butch Thompson is confident Will Holland, Steven Williams and Edouard Julien can heat up at the plate.
“I believe in Edouard Julien. He still almost has an RBI per game. I believe in Steven Williams because I’ve seen it before. I believe in Will Holland, because I haven’t seen it translate to his defense,” Thompson said. “But I have challenged them that, you’re going to hang in there, you’re going to get on and off the field, you’re going to look fresh, you’re going to play hard, because we all know they can do more. They know they can do more.
“But I will believe in their at-bats until we get to the last pitch of this season. That’s my job, is to continue to believe in them."
Holland is hitting .207 with six doubles, four home runs and 16 RBI, well below last year’s .313 average with 18 doubles, 12 home runs and 52 RBI. Williams hit .291 as a true freshman with 10 doubles, 12 home runs and 51 RBI. His sophomore numbers are .236 with five doubles, four home runs and 16 RBI.
Julien’s numbers haven’t tailed off nearly as much as the previous two. He’s hitting .256 with 12 doubles, eight home runs and 41 RBI this spring after hitting .275 with seven doubles, 17 home runs and 69 RBI a year ago. But he was 0 of 12 as the Tigers were swept at Vanderbilt last weekend.
Holland was named second-team All-SEC last season while Williams and Julien were Freshmen All-Americans. The trio have combined to hit just .198 in 21 conference games this year.
“We’re not worried about what’s happened to them, how they’ve slumped a little bit. We’re not worried about that,” said sophomore Judd Ward, who is second one the team with a .294 average. “We know what they can do and what they bring to the table. We have full confidence in them.”
Auburn, which rose to as high as 12th in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll this season, is currently unranked, 27-17 overall and 10-11 in the SEC going into this weekend’s home series against Alabama, which is 26-19 overall and 5-16 in the conference. The Tigers finish out the regular season at home against No. 8 Georgia and on the road against No. 14 LSU.
Auburn remains No. 12 in the NCAA RPI and has played one of the nation’s toughest schedules. But if the Tigers are going to make a second consecutive trip to an NCAA Regional and Super Regional, and perhaps go one step further, they need to start firing on all cylinders soon and Holland, Williams and Julien need to lead the charge.
“We’re playing for so much here that I’m not looking for a woe-is-me attitude; I’m looking for fighting for every single pitch that we can over an eight-game stretch, and I think I’ve outlined that pretty clearly to the players. I think they’re ready for the challenge,” Thompson said.
“No matter if somebody’s met expectations or doesn’t feel like they lived up to expectations or hasn’t matched the back of their baseball card, none of that matters. We have eight games at home, and that’s where I want our focus to be.”
On the mound, Auburn could be without ace starter Tanner Burns due to shoulder soreness but Jack Owen, who leads the team with a 0.53 ERA, is scheduled to start for the first time since March 16 as he continues his return from shoulder soreness.
The three-game series at Plainsman Park will get underway Friday at 6 p.m. CT on SECN+, and continue Saturday at 7 p.m. on SEC Network and Sunday at 3 p.m. on SEC Network.
