Auburn baseball faces a tough SEC opponent to open conference play in the Arkansas Razorbacks

The Tigers bats need to keep up with the Razorback arms, but it'll probably come down to how well the Tigers arms perform on the mound

Auburn head coach Butch Thompson is looking forward to the test of traveling to #3 Arkansas for a three game set starting tonight in Fayetteville.

"It'll be great just getting back into our league. This is what we all love to do - it's exciting this time of year." 

Aubun's rotation

Despite having finished a stretch of nine games in eleven days, Thompson's optimistic that the entire pitching staff is ready to go for the challenge of an 15-2 Arkansas team that has six lineup regulars batting over .300. At the tip of the spear will be Tommy Vail, the grad transfer from TCU (and Notre Dame before that) that's been virtually unhittable so far. 

"Tommy Vail will be our starter on Friday. We've been working toward that for over a week. [...] Excited to watch him in that environment, and I think our players, our team is excited for that." 

Vail has appeared in five games for Auburn, making three midweek starts, and is 2-0 with a 0.63 ERA in 14.1 innings pitched with two hits, one run, and eighteen strikeouts. On the season, opposing batters are hitting .044 against Vail. 

Saturday's starter will be true freshman Zach Crotchfelt, continuing his impressing performances early in the season. Sunday is officially TBA - there's a possibility that staff ace Joseph Gonzalez, who was scheduled to throw a bullpen late in the week, might be available to take some innings in either relief or even as a starter on Sunday. 

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 💪

Friday: Tommy Vail 🫵
Saturday: @CrotchfeltZach 🤫
Sunday: TBA ❓#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/v7E14rvbpI

— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) March 16, 2023

For both Vail and Crotchfelt, as well as Sunday's starter, the key to their success will be limiting the potent bats of Arkansas and giving the defense a chance to minimize the damage. 

After walking only one batter on Tuesday night's extra-innings walkoff win against Georgia Tech, I asked Thompson about the staff's success with limiting free baserunners and what the next step was in the development of the starters. 

"That's a great point you bring up, with the one walk. [...] I think there's levels of contact. Rock was my pitching coach in college and taught me there's hard contact, then there's taking the sting out of the swing, and then there's that third level of swing and miss. I think we're on a journey with our pitchers of: we're sitting in the hard contact, and hopefully we can start softening that up more consistently as we go, but it's nice not having both of those things (walks and hard contact) happening at the same time." 

He went on to explain that this is a common issue you face in college baseball, "For the most part, in amateur baseball for the staff, we're used to this. They had to cut down the walks and it IS getting us hit harder. We've got to get to the point with two strikes of getting that breaking ball to the floor, I think. So I think it's execution of a pitch. We're still giving up way too hard of contact. It's a journey."

Tanner Bauman, the previous Friday night starter who is a piggyback option this weekend, reiterated Thompson's point about finishing at-bats, "We've gotta clean it up a little bit - two-strike hitting, starting to see it again and again, not putting guys away as well as we were at the beginning of the season. Especially getting into SEC play, really got to stay locked in with two strikes, don't try to do too much. Don't make it too big. Just keep dominating the single pitch and executing the pitches." 

Thompson is hopeful that the Tigers can continue down those levels as the season progresses, "What I say, for our coaches: Our players do everything we ask them to do. It's an amazing group. You won't be undefeated and win every ball game, but they're on a journey of listening and trying and staying connected to everything that they can. Because they're doing that, I'm hopeful that we will start getting to the second tier of taking the sting out of the swing and eventually producing some swing and miss in big moments as we keep getting settled."

""You feel like you give your plate away from time to time. As we enter SEC play, we're fully aware we have to get some pattern to stuff. Probably, instead of leaving the plate divided in half, maybe we got to get it to thirds. We've got to get to a point pretty quickly of creating a little more quality of pitch and texture. [...] But I still like the development road we're traveling better than working from the outside of the strike zone in."

AUB ➡️ XNA

The Tigers have arrived. ✈️ #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/vTqzcCKX0N

— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) March 17, 2023

Scouting the Razorback offense

Arkansas has six players hitting over .300, led by RF Jace Bohrofen, batting .421/.554/.789 with 5 HRs and 17 RBIs on the young season. Bohrofen really broke out during his time in the Cape Cod League, and is a higher profile MLB Draft piece for this summer. 

In total, the Razorback offense is batting .310/.425/.566 with 34 HRs. It's a well-rounded group: eight players have multiple home runs, and five players have multiple stolen bases, led by CF Tavian Josenberger's five steals in eight attempts.  

Watch out for breakout sophomore Kendall Diggs - he's on a tear in his 2nd year in Fayetteville, batting .333/.470/.765 with six home runs and more walks (12) than strikeouts (7). Newcomer Jared Wegner, a transfer left fielder from Creighton, leads the team with seven home runs and is batting .387/.519/.839 so far in 2023. 

"In the video I've watched, it looks like the same competitive 'great arms, left-handed at-bats' (team)" said Thompson. "Bohrofen, I'm trying to figure out 'what's our fit strategy to get that joker out', but just up and down the lineup, you continue to see athleticism, left-handed power, couple switches (switch-hitters), and it looks like another typical (head coach) Dave Van Horn Arkansas ball club."  

Scouting the Razorback pitching staff

Injuries have significantly impacted a Razorbacks group of pitchers that, preseason, had the potential to be one of the best in the SEC. Jaxon Wiggins, expected to be the staff ace and a popular preseason mock as a 1st rounder in the 2023 MLB Draft, had Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire season. Reliever Koty Frank just recently had to have the same procedure done, and star closer Brady Tygart is currently out at least another month with an unspecified arm strain. 

That being said, Arkansas still has plenty of quality options. A rotation of Hagen Smith (3-0, 1.40 ERA), Will McEntire (3-0, 3.48 ERA) and Hunter Hollan (3-0, 2.18 ERA) can absolutely keep the Razorbacks in games early while the bullpen sorts out who will take what role in conference play. 

Joking, Thompson exclaimed "I don't feel sorry for Arkansas" when asked about the injuries and how it impacted what his Tigers could do offensively this weekend in Fayettville.  

"With a couple pieces out, they really fill in nicely. They have a good compliment of fastballs, sliders, couple lefties that are really tough to deal with the crossfire (delivery)."

Expected lineup for Auburn

Auburn has had some missing pieces in their lineup recently due to injury, with a few players candidates to return this weekend. True freshman Chris Stanfield, who left the Georgia Tech for precautionary reasons with lower leg tightness, is a go for this weekend. SS Cole Foster, injured against Southeastern Louisiana with a lower abdominal injury, is truly questionable for this weekend - he's passed all the hitting tests, but still needs to be able to field his position to make it back in the lineup. 

Outfielder Bobby Pierce (hamstring) and first baseman Cooper McMurray (high ankle strain) and both out for this weekend, and have some rehab time left for their injuries. Pierce is closer than McMurray, who is still having trouble with weight transfer onto the injured leg, but both will not play this weekend.  

C Nate Larue

1B Ike Irish

2B Bryson Ware

3B Gavin Miller

SS Caden Green

LF Chris Stanfield

CF Kason Howell

RF Josh Hall

DH Justin Kirby

If Foster is back, expect Green to shift back to 2nd base and Ware to shift back to 3rd, although Thompson admitted being happy with the rapid improvement in Miller's at-bats after the infield was required to be shuffled.   

Game Times, How to Watch

All three games will be broadcast on SEC Network+, with game times set for 4PM (Friday) and 2PM (Saturday and Sunday). The radio call with Brad Law will be available locally on 93.9 FM, AuburnTigers.com. and the Auburn Athletics App.

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