Auburn prepares to host #12 Vanderbilt for a BIG three-game series

OF Josh Hall is unavailable in a series that will stress the defense.

Auburn baseball, having entered the top 25 for the first time this season, is excited to continue to make their case for the postseason against a ranked Vanderbilt squad this weekend at Plainsman Park.

“The way I tip my hat to the Vanderbilt program the most is, for the last five, six, seven years, it’s been one of the most difficult teams to prepare for in SEC play.” Head coach Butch Thompson said. “They’ve just been so good in every category. It’s probably, arguably, the best pitching staff we’ve seen top to bottom in SEC play.”

Vanderbilt’s rotation, led by full-season starters Chris McElvain and Carton Holton, along with usual starter Devin Futrell and spot starter Patrick Reilly, have combined for 149 strikeouts and only 44 walks in 135.1 innings with a 2.73 ERA. The Vandy bullpen features four pitchers with ERAs of zero, with a combined 24 appearances between them, and three other relievers with ERAs below two over 16 combined appearances. As a pitching staff, the Vandy ERA of 2.68 is 2nd best in the SEC (Auburn is 6th best, with a 4.02 team ERA).

Of particular focus for Thompson is going to be containing the Vanderbilt offense, which is keyed by their dynamic running game. “Going into week four of SEC play, two of the fastest runners in SEC play are (Enrique) Bradfield Jr. and (Javier) Vaz there.” Vanderbilt as a team has 45 stolen bases in 49 attempts on the year, good for 2nd in the SEC. It’s a challenge that Friday night starter Hayden Mullins is excited about. “A type of challenge like that – when you figure out a team’s identity – is welcoming when to try to see if we can shut it down. We’re going to attack then and try to get them out.”

Thompson asserted the challenge it would pose for the defense. “Their running game’s like preparing for Texas A&M.” Catcher Nate LaRue, who threw out three of four attempted base stealers in the Texas A&M series, received significant kudos for his work behind the plate in his seven starts, including both of the recent SEC weekend series. “For seven games he has received the ball at a high level,” Thompson boasted. “He has settled and made our pitching staff get back on track. That’s the main job of a catcher and he has absolutely done it at a high level.” Thompson was also complimentary of how LaRue was handling the pitching staff. “I think we are working quicker with Nate behind the plate right now. I don’t remember it being that way in the past. He has absolutely got a great arm and everybody knows it, but he’s really gotten the tempo going with our guys. He calls a lot of fastballs. All of those things have helped us. He has checked a lot of boxes these last seven games.”

The Vanderbilt offense is keyed by senior Dominic Keegan, who is 3rd in the SEC with a .424 batting average. Vanderbilt does not hit many home runs, currently 8th in the SEC with 32, but plays a similar game to Auburn: Get guys on base, play station to station, and bring them in. Their team on-base percentage is .402, 4th in the SEC and just behind Auburn’s .405, and they’re one of the best teams in the SEC at not striking out, ranking 2nd with only 213 Ks (Auburn is 3rd worst with 253).

Against a team that excels at putting balls in play and stressing defenses, Auburn will be forced to make some defensive adjustments in the outfield for the series. Redshirt junior outfielder Josh Hall, who made the final out of Game 1’s victory, is going to miss “significant time” with a foot injury suffered on that catch when he collided with the bullpen bench. Sources tell us that he will require surgery and is probably out for the year. In that same inning, LSU outfielder Drew Bianco tripped over the bullpen mound and injured his shoulder, missing the rest of the series. LSU is one of only a few remaining teams that have their bullpens inside the field, on foul ground, versus behind the outfield wall or outside of foul territory. Hall, who was batting .269 on the year over 18 appearances with six starts, contributed defense and much-needed speed on the basepaths and leaves a hole for Auburn to fill in the outfield.

Probable starters

Friday – Jr. LHP Hayden Mullins (2-1, 3.72) vs. Jr. RHP Chris McElvain (4-1, 3.16)

Saturday – Jr. RHP Trace Bright (2-2, 2.70) vs. Fr. LHP Carter Holton (4-2, 3.89)

Sunday – So. RHP Joseph Gonzalez (3-0, 2.31) vs. So RHP Patrick Reilly (2-1, 1.21)

Projected lineup

3B Blake Rambusch

CF Kason Howell

1B Sonny DiChiara

SS Brody Moore

DH Cam Hill/Brooks Carlson, depending on pitching matchups

2B Cole Foster

LF Mike Bello

C Nate LaRue

RF Bobby Pierce

Auburn is still searching for a consistent power threat behind Sonny DiChiara, to provide lineup protection (Sonny is 2nd in the SEC in walks, with 28, despite appearing in only 25 games. Auburn has tried different players in the cleanup slot, moving the DH down to 5th and putting SS Brody Moore there for the most recent series against LSU. Cole Foster and Mike Bello are two younger players who have the potential to add power to their offensive games, but it has not yet manifested in production at the plate.

Stats that exist but do not matter

(credit to @TigerHistalmos for the assist compiling this)

Team record compared to the first pitch of the game:

If the first pitch of the game is a ball = Auburn is 8-2

If the first pitch of the game is a strike = Auburn is 12-7

Let's hope that first pitch is juuuuust a bit outside.

Schedule

Friday’s game is at 6 PM, Saturday’s first pitch is at 4 PM, and Sunday’s series finale is at 1 PM. All times are central. This weekend is Military Appreciation Weekend, with giveaways all three days and the Silver Wings Command Exhibition Parachute team delivering the game ball at 3:45 PM before Saturday’s game 2. All three games are available for streaming on SEC Network+ and the radio broadcast with Voice of the Tigers Andy Burcham alongside Brad Law can be heard locally on 93.9 FM or online on the Auburn Sports Network.