Auburn baseball drops midweek to Jax State; notebook
Auburn baseball was unable to carry the momentum of a series clincher against Texas A&M into their midweek slate, falling 5-2 to Jacksonville State. In front of its first midweek sellout in program history, with an announced attendance of 4,096, Auburn, which entered the game third in the SEC with a team batting average of .311, collected 10 hits but stranded 11 runners in the contest. “The consistency with our ballclub, you’re either trying to get momentum or keep it,” Head coach Butch Thompson said. “I think this club still has to learn that. Every time we go grab a little bit of momentum and it’s time to get rolling and you get a sellout crowd on a midweek that we haven’t had here ever, you’re supposed to try to take advantage. We did hit the ball hard and at people, but this team can’t take a next step until it starts to understand what it means to go and get momentum and keep it and have an urgency about trying to keep it as a ballclub. We did cash in for game three at Texas A&M, but that should be all the more excitement. Getting ready for LSU should have started tonight, in my opinion.”
Despite the loss, there were positives for Auburn baseball to build off of on their way to a Thursday-Saturday series in Baton Rouge against #13 LSU. Of note was the return of Joseph Gonzalez, a weekend starter to open the year who has missed the last two weeks due to a blister under a fingernail on his throwing hand that left him unable to grip a baseball. Against Jacksonville State, he came out of the bullpen in the 8th inning and pitched a perfect 1.2 innings, stranding two inherited runners in the 8th and sitting down all three batters in order in the 9th. His fastball flashed 93, and the five groundouts give evidence to his sinker being back to its dominant ways. All evidence points towards him returning to the starting rotation for Saturday’s Game 3 against LSU.
Defensive alignment still in flux
Auburn’s answered defensive questions in the infield, with a starting four of Blake Rambusch at 3rd, Brody Moore at shortstop, Cole Foster at 2nd, and Sonny DiChiara at 1st being the preferred order around the diamond. Defensive specialist Garrett Farquhar got some starts at 2nd while Cole Foster was out with a minor shoulder injury, and is the first backup at a number of positions in the infield.
The outfield has settled into a lineup of Kason Howell in center and freshman Mike Bello in a corner as the two everyday starters, with that third spot rotating through different options. Mike Bello, who first started in the outfield right before conference play began, is leads the SEC in average and runs in SEC games with a slash line of .379/.514/.586 w/ 1 HR and 7 RBIs.
Early in the season, Bryson Ware was the 2nd outfielder, starting 20 games on the season with a line of .260/.345/.438, w/ 1 HR and 18 RBIs, but he hasn’t started since March 22nd’s midweek against South Alabama, and even there he was lifted for a pinch hitter after only two at-bats. He’s 4 for 22 going back to March 13th’s series clincher against Middle Tennessee State, and seems susceptible at the plate to offspeed and breaking pitches. He received a pinch-hit at-bat against Jacksonville State and struck out looking on four pitches, all offspeed or breaking.
Barring some sort of drastic turnaround, he doesn’t figure to be a big part of Auburn’s outfield plans going forward. (I expected Bobby Pierce to get the pinch-hit, but sources say that there was a concentrated effort to stick with specific matchups.)
The speedy but light-hitting Josh Hall has started five times in the outfield, Brayton Brown has three, and Mason Land received the start in left field on Tuesday. Auburn is still searching for the right personnel mix in the outfield. In the past, we’ve seen Auburn put catcher Ryan Dyal in left field to get his bat in the lineup, mostly at home but also two games on the road at Texas A&M, while Nate LaRue started at catcher.
Thompson has talked about a “give and take - really a stretch” required to balance offensive production with a sound defense, and Dyal in left field has been a part of that stretch by a pitching-focused coach that wants to “dominate the routine play” on defense.
Part of the eventual outfield answer is predicated on what Auburn does at catcher. Jake Wyandt was brought in as a grad transfer from Presbyterian to be a defensive standout, and he did just that until Game 1 against Ole Miss. That game featured 2 defensive errors from Wyandt and two passed balls in five innings before he was lifted for a pinch hitter.
Wyandt has not started since, although he did appear in relief in Game 3 against Texas A&M. Nate LaRue, the catcher and right-handed pitcher, got all three starts behind the dish against a Texas A&M team that had been prolific on the base paths. He threw out three of four attempted base-stealers and even chipped in three hits on Sunday’s Game 3, with a home run, a double, and five RBIs. The availability of Wyandt to catch will impact the outfield plans for Auburn, but LaRue has shown he is capable of controlling the running game and providing adequate defense at catcher.
The scouting report on Ryan Dyal is that he’s adequate on gamecalling and defense behind the plate, but his arm strength is such where opposing teams have an “automatic green light” to steal, according to sources. Nate LaRue’s continued offensive development will be crucial to Auburn’s future lineup plans for not only catching but also the outfield.
Offensive impact of the transfers:
The biggest contributors to the offense have been three new faces: Samford transfers Sonny DiChiara and Brooks Carlson, as well as Grayson College transfer Blake Rambusch. Rambusch, who has lead off every game while playing in either right field early in the season or third base for the bulk of the schedule, is batting .394/.468/.529, w/ 2 HRs, 21 RBIs, and is five for nine on stolen bases attempts this season. He’s also delivered key hits in clutch moments, most notably the game winning RBI against Texas A&M and has a 15 game hitting streak.
Sonny DiChiara, quickly a fan favorite knows as the “Thicc King” with his walkup music of the Italian Wedding Dance, is hitting .455/.608/.924, with 7 HRs, 21 RBIs, and 23 BB. He’s batted third in the 20 games he’s appeared in, and leads the SEC in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging.
Brooks Carlson, whose season debut was delayed due to a fractured thumb suffered in offseason workouts, has made 15 appearances with 10 starts, mostly at DH but also a start at 2nd base for the first game against Ole Miss. He is batting .326/.436/.413, w/ 1 HR & 8 RBIs. Carlson and Cam Hill have been sharing time at DH since DiChiara returned from his heel injury, with the starting role being made based on matchups and the other being used as the primary pinch-hit option.
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