Auburn Daily

Unranked Auburn baseball to face seven ranked opponents in 2023

Auburn baseball has three preseason top ten matchups on the road in 2023.

Lindsay Crosby

Unranked Auburn baseball to face seven ranked opponents in 2023
Unranked Auburn baseball to face seven ranked opponents in 2023 /

Auburn baseball head coach Butch Thompson often refers to the SEC as the "highest level of amateur baseball" in the country, and recent polls reinforce that notion. D1Baseball.com just released their preseason Top 25 rankings ($) for the upcoming 2023 season, and Auburn's not one of the nine ranked teams from the Southeastern Conference, a year removed from a three-game stint in Omaha at the College World Series. 

D1Baseball managing editor Kendall Rogers, in comment to Auburn Daily, says he would have Auburn somewhere in the 26-29 range, along with Mississippi State and future SEC foes Texas & Oklahoma. Aaron Fitt, national writer, said he would take Auburn, Mississippi State, & Texas from that grouping along with Arizona State for his "next four" teams in the poll.

Fitt elaborated when asked, saying: "I hated leaving Auburn out of our Top 25, because it feels like this program has a knack for exceeding expectations under Butch Thompson's leadership. Could certainly envision that happening again. SEC is just so very rugged."

Leading that "rugged" conference, and the nation, is LSU - their first-ever #1 ranking. They were one game away from advancing out of the Hattiesburg Regional last year, and then added the #1 transfer class AND the #1 prep recruiting class to become the odds-on favorite to win the College World Series. 

Rounding out the Top 5 from the SEC is #2 Tennessee, #4 Ole Miss, and #5 Texas A&M. Other SEC teams in the Top 25 include: #7 Florida, #8 Arkansas, #10 Vanderbilt, #20 Alabama, and #23 South Carolina.

Auburn's schedule this year slants towards getting those ranked teams on the road - 5 of the 7 ranked series are away, with a trip to #8 Arkansas opening conference play in March and trips to #7 Florida, #20 Alabama, #23 South Carolina, and #4 Ole Miss all coming at the end of bus and/or plane trips.

However, some of the biggest tests will be within the friendly confines of Plainsman Park: #5 Texas A&M comes to Auburn April 6th-8th, with game three being scheduled for sometime before or after Auburn's A-Day spring game.

The Tigers strategically timed game two of last year's Vanderbilt series to coincide with the end of A-day and were rewarded with a sellout crowd of 4,096, only the 2nd sellout of the year to that point. Against Texas A&M, who was a College World Series team in Jim Schlossnagle's first season as head coach, Auburn will need a raucous crowd to disrupt the as-yet-to-be-determined third starter for the Aggie pitching staff and give the Tigers a chance for the upset series win at home. 

The other Top 5 test, the largest of the season, comes May 5th through 7th when preseason favorite LSU comes to town. Auburn played the Bayou Tigers tough in Baton Rouge last year, winning the series 2-1 after a masterful Joseph Gonzalez start in game three was turned over to closer Blake Burkhalter to close out the final 2.2 innings.

LSU projects to be better this year, with historically strong offense and starting pitching options, but questions about the defense and the overall team speed. This series being on graduation weekend allows for Auburn to "juice" attendance as families and alumni are in town for commencement ceremonies. 

Other underrated home matchups for Auburn include half of the split two-game series against Georgia Tech (in Auburn on Tuesday, March 14th and in Atlanta on Tuesday, April 11th) as well as a postseason rematch when Southeastern Louisiana comes for the final series before conference play, March 10th-12th. The Tigers defeated #4 seed SELA 19-7 in each team's first game of the 2022 Auburn Regional.

The entire 2023 schedule:

Feb. 17 (Fri) Vs Indiana

Feb. 18 (Sat) Vs Indiana

Feb. 19 (Sun) Vs Indiana

Feb. 21 (Tue) Vs North Alabama (Huntsville, Ala.)

Feb. 24 (Fri) At USC

Feb. 25 (Sat) At USC

Feb. 26 (Sun) At USC

Mar. 1 (Wed) Vs Florida A&M

Mar. 3 (Fri) Vs Lipscomb

Mar. 4 (Sat) Vs Lipscomb

Mar. 5 (Sun) Vs Lipscomb

Mar. 7 (Tue) Vs UAB

Mar. 8 (Wed) At Jacksonville State

Mar. 10 (Fri) Vs Southeastern Louisiana

Mar. 11 (Sat) Vs Southeastern Louisiana

Mar. 12 (Sun) Vs Southeastern Louisiana

Mar. 14 (Tue) Vs Georgia Tech

Mar. 17 (Fri) At #8 Arkansas

Mar. 18 (Sat) At #8 Arkansas

Mar. 19 (Sun) At #8 Arkansas

Mar. 21 (Tue) Vs South Alabama (Montgomery, Ala.)

Mar. 23 (Thu) Vs Georgia

Mar. 24 (Fri) Vs Georgia

Mar. 25 (Sat) Vs Georgia

Mar. 28 (Tue) Vs North Alabama

Mar. 31 (Fri) At #7 Florida

Apr. 1 (Sat) At #7 Florida

Apr. 2 (Sun) At #7 Florida

Apr. 4 (Tue) At UAB

Apr. 6 (Thu) Vs #5 Texas A&M

Apr. 7 (Fri) Vs #5 Texas A&M

Apr. 8 (Sat) Vs #5 Texas A&M

Apr. 11 (Tue) At Georgia Tech

Apr. 14 (Fri) At #20 Alabama

Apr. 15 (Sat) At #20 Alabama

Apr. 16 (Sun) At #20 Alabama

Apr. 18 (Tue) Vs Samford

Apr. 21 (Fri) Vs Mississippi State

Apr. 22 (Sat) Vs Mississippi State

Apr. 23 (Sun) Vs Mississippi State

Apr. 25 (Tue) Vs Troy

Apr. 28 (Fri) At #23 South Carolina

Apr. 29 (Sat) At #23 South Carolina

Apr. 30 (Sun) At #23 South Carolina

May 5 (Fri) Vs #1 LSU

May 6 (Sat) Vs #1 LSU

May 7 (Sun) Vs #1 LSU

May 9 (Tue) Vs Samford (Hoover, Ala.)

May 11 (Thu) At #4 Ole Miss

May 12 (Fri) At #4 Ole Miss

May 13 (Sat) At #4 Ole Miss

May 16 (Tue) Vs Jacksonville State

May 18 (Thu) Vs Missouri

May 19 (Fri) Vs Missouri

May 20 (Sat) Vs Missouri

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Published
Lindsay Crosby
LINDSAY CROSBY

Senior Writer, covering Auburn Tigers baseball Also: Host of Locked on MLB Prospects (on twitter at @LockedOnFarm), Managing Editor of @Braves_Today, member of the National College Baseball Writers Association and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America

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