AUBURN | It’s all pretty much on the table for No. 20 Auburn heading into the homestretch of the regular season. With 11 games remaining including three conference series, the Tigers are in position to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament or even host a Regional.

But they’ll have to get it done against two ranked teams and an LSU squad that always seems to play its best baseball at the end of the season. And a serious slide at the end could knock Auburn right out of postseason play.

“I feel like we’ve got to win three series or be a combination of being above .500 in our league,” said coach Butch Thompson on Auburn’s chances of hosting a Regional for the first time since 2010.

“There’s a lot of trust from my standpoint of letting our coaches do their job and trusting our players to go out and execute. For me, I think right now, is just keep promoting leadership, keep trying to play the best game that we can, put the lineup out there that gives us the best chance to win and just keep pushing them to not look at each and every play, a win and loss, and don’t be looking at the standings, but just try to play your best baseball for a window of 11 games and let the chips fall where they may.”

The Tigers host No. 17 Vanderbilt this weekend for a three-game series. The Commodores, 25-19 overall and 11-10 in the SEC, rank 12th in the conference in batting (.264), ninth in home runs (37), first in stolen bases (84), eighth in team ERA (3.87) and second in fielding (.982).

Freshman left fielder Austin Martin leads Vandy with a .342 average while freshman right fielder Pat DeMarco is hitting .306 with six home runs and 29 RBI. Junior second baseman Ethan Paul is batting .253 with eight home runs and 37 RBI.

Vandy lost two-of-three at Missouri and two-of-three to South Carolina the last two weekends.

Auburn, which enters the series 31-14 overall and 10-11 in the SEC, is eighth in batting (.279), sixth in home runs (45), 11th in stolen bases (31), 10th in team ERA (4.05) and ninth in fielding (.974).

The Tigers started 4-8 in the conference before winning five out of six games against Mississippi State and Alabama. Auburn dropped two-of-three games at No. 1 Florida last weekend, but exited the series with the nation’s No. 6 RPI.

“I think our guys have done a tremendous job to get back to this point,” Thompson said. “I don’t feel like our team is wore out, fatigued. We’re finishing exams and we basically get to be baseball players for these last three weeks. Get back at Plainsman Park for seven of these last 11 ballgames to hopefully play in front of our fans and great crowds and they get behind us and finish strong.”

Friday’s series opener is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and will be followed by game two Saturday at 2 p.m. and the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will air on SECN+ and WatchESPN.

TEAM NOTES

** Casey Mize is second in the SEC in ERA (2.40), first in strikeouts (104), second in opponent batting average (.170), first in innings pitched (75.0) and tied for second in wins (8). ESPN’s Keith Law currently projects Mize as the No. 1 overall pick to the Detroit Tigers in the 2018 MLB Draft, which gets underway June 4.

** Luke Jarvis is riding a seven-game hitting streak and is hitting .385 (10-for-26) during the span.

** Edouard Julien has eight home runs and 27 RBI in the last 20 games. He leads all freshmen nationally with 46 RBI and is tied for third among freshmen with 11 home runs.

** Another freshman, Steven Williams, leads the team with a .429 average (15-for-35) in the last 10 games. He’s batting a team-best .321 on the season.

** Freshmen Tanner Burns and Cody Greenhill have combined to go the distance in each of their last three SEC appearances. The freshman duo is 3-0 with a 3.33 ERA in wins vs. Mississippi State, at Alabama and at No. 1 Florida.

** Auburn has scored 62 runs and is hitting .358 in its last five SEC wins.