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Last I checked, all of the games are going to be on TV this weekend, so I am looking forward to a weekend of some good college baseball.

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Auburn tries to rebound from lost baseball weekend

By Bradley Handwerger

bhandwerger@decaturdaily.com · 340-2462

Auburn's baseball team entered Southeastern Conference play as one of the top 10 teams in the country.

Then reality set in.

It may be cliché, but in the SEC, you have to show up every day with your best.

Against Georgia, the team with the worst overall record in the SEC, Auburn didn't do that. As such, the Tigers were swept at Georgia a week ago.

Now Auburn (18-6, 0-3 SEC) hosts Florida (11-13, 1-2), the team with the second-worst league record.

Yet, Auburn head coach Tom Slater isn't worried. Three games don't make or break a season. Agreed

"We don't live in the past," Slater said. "We've got 27 SEC games left. I believe in this club. I believe in these players, and they believe in themselves." :thumbsup:

It will help Auburn that Mike Bianucci returns to the lineup after a week's absence because of the flu.

Through 21 games, the Tigers' No. 4-hole hitter is batting .351 with six homers and 21RBIs.

Now he's paired again with Josh Donaldson (.402, 33 RBIs), Auburn's leading hitter who bats in front of Bianucci. :cheer:

In the series with Georgia, the Tigers were hitting, just not scoring. Auburn banged out 25 hits in three games against the Bulldogs, but lost all three games after scoring a combined seven runs. So it is not like we forget to hit, we just forget to hit after somebody was in scoring position.

"Donaldson and Bianucci hitting 3-4 is as good a 3-4 as any in the country," Slater said. "(Bianucci's absence) affects Donaldson, and it affects the hitters behind them and in front of them."

It's not like the Gators are devoid of talent, however. Several players who were on Florida's 2005 team that made it to the national title series before losing to Texas are still on the team.

Matt LaPorta leads that contingent. The senior infielder was the 2005 SEC player of the year, and came back to college after turning down the pro riches. He leads the Gators at the plate, batting .389 with 14 RBIs.

On the mound, Florida relies on Bryan Augenstein, their Friday starter. He's 2-3 with a 3.59 ERA.

"He's their No. 1 pitcher and has been for two years," Slater said. "He's an upper 80s sinkerball guy with a pretty good slider."

Nevertheless, Slater isn't pressuring his team. He's not telling them that this is a must-win series for the Tigers. This I disagree with. I think Slater needs to stress how important this series is. Starting out the year by losing two series against the bottom two teams in the league would be a moral killer, not to mention starting out 1-5 in conference play would make for one heckuva uphill battle for the rest of the season.

"We're not putting any extra pressure on them," Slater said. "We're certainly disappointed that we didn't win any games last weekend."

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Last I checked, all of the games are going to be on TV this weekend, so I am looking forward to a weekend of some good college baseball.

Link

Auburn tries to rebound from lost baseball weekend

By Bradley Handwerger

bhandwerger@decaturdaily.com · 340-2462

Auburn's baseball team entered Southeastern Conference play as one of the top 10 teams in the country.

Then reality set in.

It may be cliché, but in the SEC, you have to show up every day with your best.

Against Georgia, the team with the worst overall record in the SEC, Auburn didn't do that. As such, the Tigers were swept at Georgia a week ago.

Now Auburn (18-6, 0-3 SEC) hosts Florida (11-13, 1-2), the team with the second-worst league record.

Yet, Auburn head coach Tom Slater isn't worried. Three games don't make or break a season. Agreed

"We don't live in the past," Slater said. "We've got 27 SEC games left. I believe in this club. I believe in these players, and they believe in themselves." :thumbsup:

It will help Auburn that Mike Bianucci returns to the lineup after a week's absence because of the flu.

Through 21 games, the Tigers' No. 4-hole hitter is batting .351 with six homers and 21RBIs.

Now he's paired again with Josh Donaldson (.402, 33 RBIs), Auburn's leading hitter who bats in front of Bianucci. :cheer:

In the series with Georgia, the Tigers were hitting, just not scoring. Auburn banged out 25 hits in three games against the Bulldogs, but lost all three games after scoring a combined seven runs. So it is not like we forget to hit, we just forget to hit after somebody was in scoring position.

"Donaldson and Bianucci hitting 3-4 is as good a 3-4 as any in the country," Slater said. "(Bianucci's absence) affects Donaldson, and it affects the hitters behind them and in front of them."

It's not like the Gators are devoid of talent, however. Several players who were on Florida's 2005 team that made it to the national title series before losing to Texas are still on the team.

Matt LaPorta leads that contingent. The senior infielder was the 2005 SEC player of the year, and came back to college after turning down the pro riches. He leads the Gators at the plate, batting .389 with 14 RBIs.

On the mound, Florida relies on Bryan Augenstein, their Friday starter. He's 2-3 with a 3.59 ERA.

"He's their No. 1 pitcher and has been for two years," Slater said. "He's an upper 80s sinkerball guy with a pretty good slider."

Nevertheless, Slater isn't pressuring his team. He's not telling them that this is a must-win series for the Tigers. This I disagree with. I think Slater needs to stress how important this series is. Starting out the year by losing two series against the bottom two teams in the league would be a moral killer, not to mention starting out 1-5 in conference play would make for one heckuva uphill battle for the rest of the season.

"We're not putting any extra pressure on them," Slater said. "We're certainly disappointed that we didn't win any games last weekend."

sweet. Know what channels they will be on? Im heading out, but I wouldnt mind catching some on tv over the weekend.

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Well, I just checked and I assumed they were all going to be on CSS, but I was wrong. Tonight's game is on FSN Florida, which is a channel that I do not get. If you have dish and subscribe to a package that includes all the sports channels, you may be able to get it. Saturday and Sunday's game will be on CSS, so I will at least get to see 2 out of 3 of the games.

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Ok, so Im going to double post and answer my own question.

Maybe Bianucci sitting out can get him out of that funk. After the USA tournament he was hitting well over 400 and his average kept slipping down to .350 now. Thats still not bad, but he has been slumping a little especially after that 0 for 5 day with 4 Ks in the second game vs. VMI. It always seemed to me that the best thing to end a slump was just take a break.

sweet. Know what channels they will be on? Im heading out, but I wouldnt mind catching some on tv over the weekend.

Media Information

Television: Sunshine (Fri. & Sat.), CSS (Sat. & Sun.)

Which is bad for me because I probably wont be able to get any of those channels.

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That sucks for you dude because the majority of our games, when televised, are usually on CSS.

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don't get CSS here in florida, but do get Fox sports and sun sports, so I'll get at least two of these if not all three....

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Yeah, you have Cox cable don't you Eric?

I get Fox Sports South, but they are not showing tonight's game. I did not realize, until I checked earlier, that Fox Sports had a channel just for the state of Florida. It looks like it is in partnership with Sun Sports Network. Makes sense I guess with all the sports teams Florida has at both the collegiate and professional level.

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Yeah, you have Cox cable don't you Eric?

I get Fox Sports South, but they are not showing tonight's game. I did not realize, until I checked earlier, that Fox Sports had a channel just for the state of Florida. It looks like it is in partnership with Sun Sports Network. Makes sense I guess with all the sports teams Florida has at both the collegiate and professional level.

Yeah, I have cox cable here, but also have Dish Network. I have the sports package with about 20 Fox sports net regional channels, + the sunshine network. Sunshine network has been around for proabably about 10 years now...maybe longer.. Sun Sports is in partnership with fox sports. It didn't used to be, and it was called Sunshine network then...now its' called SUN SPORTS after the affliation. They show UF, Miami, FSU sports, and they along with fox sports south are a great way to grab other SEC games( during football or basketball season). With Dish network, they have MULTIPLE ALTERNATE channels on the fox sports net package, and I've actually found a few Auburn games on one of the alternate channels when they may have been blacked out for the state of florida on their normal channel. So, I'll watch most games there, even the ones that I could get on cable with LF, because the picture is so much better with Dish than it is with cable.. + I can record them on the DVR or directly to the PC with better quality...

EDIT...after checking the program guide on dish network, the game isn't on Sun sports tonight... It's (for florida anyway) on FOX FLorida. Sun sports is showing the Orlando Magic game tonight... That's why I may be able to get all three games...LOL

OK. those with dish network, get tonights game on channel 423(FOXFL), tomorrows game is on 422 (sun sports) and sundays game is on ch. 424 CSNMA (whatever that is)..LOL.. YEAH...i get ALL THREE GAMES...whoo hoo...

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