Auburn baseball: Scouting the Indiana Hoosiers

Auburn baseball welcomes the Indiana Hoosiers for the opening series of the season.

Butch Thompson and the Auburn baseball program welcome the Indiana Hoosiers from the Big 10 to Plainsman Park for the first series of the season.

With the visiting foes being from the Big 10, there's a lot that we don't know about this squad. In fact, I was speaking to a player this week and asked what he thought about the Hoosiers and he responded, "Man, we don't really know anything about these guys."

Indiana is probably saying the same about Auburn as the Tigers had a ton of turnover at almost every spot on the roster.

We spoke with Carl James of IUbase.com, an independent site dedicated to Indiana baseball, to get some scoop on the visiting Hoosiers.

Auburn Daily: Who is the Indiana pitcher you're most excited to see this weekend?

James: Ty Bothwell. 5Th-year senior LHP. 5’9”, 180 lbs. (only because he’s added 30 lbs of muscle since his freshman year). Comes across as a goofy kid who won’t intimidate anyone, until they realize that his low to mid 90’s cross-fire fastball moves funky and is hard to hit. Coaches telling us he has his three off-speed pitches working better than ever and should get a start on Friday or Saturday.

Auburn Daily: Which player in the lineup should Auburn fans keep an eye out for? 

James: Carter Mathison. Left-handed outfielder who lead the team with 19 home runs last year as a freshman. Mathison is a big, strong, Midwest dude. He’s one of five Hoosiers that will be going to the Cape this summer and in my opinion, might be the best draft prospect Indiana has had since Kyle Schwarber.

Auburn Daily: If Auburn wants to win the series, what do they need to do? 

James: Jump on Hoosier pitchers early in the series and turn free bases into big innings. Indiana is only returning 4 pitchers (Bothwell and three freshmen) from a staff that absolutely bled free bases last year. The coaches hit the transfer portal hard to get a mix of younger talent and proven veteran strike throwers from the mid-major ranks. The focus has been on competing in the zone even if they get hit, but a really poor start to last year on the mound looms large. If the Tigers break Indiana’s pitching confidence early, it could set the tone for the whole weekend.

Auburn Daily: Which Hoosier newcomer should make the biggest splash this season? 

James: Freshman Devin Taylor is special. He’s a natural outfielder, but with the outfield absolutely stacked, he’s likely to see time at first base this weekend as regular first baseman Brock Tibbitts is also expected to take some innings at catcher. Taylor is an athletic hitter and defender who made a big splash in fall exhibitions.

Prediction?

James: This is still a 2022 College World Series team from the SEC hosting a team that finished 8th in the Big Ten last year, so you have to give the series edge to Auburn. That being said, this is possibly the deepest position player group Indiana has fielded ever and I am including the 2013 CWS team and the 2014 top-8 national seed team. There is no letup in the lineup one through nine and there are even starter-quality bats on the bench for late-inning match-up, pinch hits. If Indiana pitchers can attack the zone with a decent pitching mix they can be in any game and should win at least one out of three. For Indiana, the pitching is the big question mark.

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