AUBURN | It’s an opportunity to end the season on a positive note and do it against an arch rival.
Auburn hosts Alabama this weekend in the final regular season series. The Tigers, already eliminated from postseason play with a 6-21 conference record, are coming off their first SEC series win.
The Tide, 12-15 in the league, probably needs a couple of more wins to assure a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
“Alabama is playing for a lot. Everybody is jockeying for position,” said AU coach Butch Thompson. “For us and our program, gaining an SEC series win last week was huge. We just want to carry and keep trying to finish as strong as you can and build some momentum moving forward.
“Any time you play your rival there is so much at stake, so much on the line. We absolutely want to finish this season by putting our best foot forward at home in front of our fans.”
Thompson will also give a couple of AU’s freshmen some extra opportunities this weekend. Cade Belyeu has already earned a starting spot in the outfield while Cale Stricklin has started 12 games at catcher.
Another talented freshman, Cole Edwards, has played in just nine games this season with three starts.
“Cole Edwards is another one that we haven’t looked at as much … but might give an opportunity for an example of him getting the chance to hit for a couple days from a DH role,” said Thompson.
“We’re doing everything we can to have success and win this series. But I do believe that some of our younger players have earned the right and give us the chance to be successful in this series as well.”
Auburn will go with the same rotation from last weekend with senior left-hander Tanner Bauman (2-2, 4.84 ERA) Thursday, junior right-hander Chase Allsup (3-3, 5.98) Friday and TBA Saturday.
That rotation, which included senior right-hander Christian Herberholz (2-1, 5.12) on Sunday, combined to go 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA at Missouri last weekend.
Game times for the series at Plainsman Park are 6 p.m. CT Thursday, 6 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday. The first two games will be on SECN+/ESPN+ and the finale on SEC Network.
