3/7/23 Auburn Baseball Articles

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Updated SEC baseball power rankings after week three action; Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina all rise

Andrew Stefaniak

7–9 minutes

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After another busy weekend in the SEC, we have a good amount of movement in the power rankings. 

Florida has looked great, but Mississippi State has continued to struggle.

Let's take a look at our week four SEC baseball power rankings. 

14. Kentucky Wildcats

Record: 9-2

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Last Week's Rank: 14

Week Three Recap: While they went 4-0 on the week, Kentucky has not impressed me much. Their strength of schedule is awful, and they are beating mediocre teams by narrow margins. They still do have a decent pitching staff but haven't done enough to move from the last spot in the power rankings. With another weak schedule coming up this week, it will be hard for the Wildcats to move any time soon.  

Week Four Opponents: Midweek: Tue Murry State, Wed Ohio. Weekend Series: Southern Illinois

13. Mississippi State Bulldogs

Record: 7-5

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Last Week's Rank: 13

Week Three Recap: Mississippi State went 2-2 on the weekend with a win over at the time #25 Southern Miss. They then went on to lose to Ohio State, and Oklahoma then won their last game of the weekend over California. I thought the big win over Southern Miss could be the turning point for this Bulldog ball club, but that was not the case. Mississippis State needs to figure it out and figure it out quickly.

Week Four Opponents: Midweek: Valparaiso . Weekend Series: Lipscomb. 

12. Missouri Tigers

Record: 9-2

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Last Week's Rank: 11

Week Three Recap: Missouri had a good week winning four games scoring 48 runs, and only allowing 16. This Tiger team has played some bad teams since their big start to the season with wins over Texas and TCU, so it is still hard to get a feel for this team. We will have clarity soon enough, with SEC play only a few weeks away.

Week Four Opponents: Midweek: Western Illinois. Weekend Series: NJIT 4x

11. Georgia Bulldogs

Record: 8-3

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Last Week's Rank: 12

Week Three Recap: It was a good week for Georgia as they blew out Presbyterian in their midweek matchup, then won the series over in-state rival Georgia Tech. This was a big series win, and is why they leapfrogged Missouri. Georgia can swing it, and I expect them to be a force in SEC play. 

Week Four Opponents: Midweek: Tue/Wed Georgia Southern.  Weekend Series: Charleston Southern

10. Auburn Tigers

Record: 9-1-1

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Last Week's Rank: 10

Week Three Recap: Auburn went 4-0 on the week with a blowout win over FAMU in the midweek, then a series sweep of Lipscomb. This was a gritty sweep by Auburn as they trailed going into the eighth in two of these ball games but were able to come back and win in both. This team can really hit; it's all going to come down to whether or not they have enough pitchers to get through a weekend. 

Week Four Opponents: Midweek: Tue UAB, Wed Jacksonville State. Weekend Series: Southeastern Louisiana 

9. Alabama Crimson Tide (18)

Record: 12-0

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Last Week's Rank: 7

Week Three Recap: Alabama went 4-0 on the week and exploded for 47 runs. This team is in the same boat as Kentucky since they have won a ton but haven't played any note-worthy opponents. This Crimson Tide team could be very good; we just need to see it play out when SEC play begins, and they start playing quality opponents. 

Week Four Opponents: Midweek: Tue Samford, Wed Alabama State. Weekend Series: Columbia

8. Texas A&M Aggies (15)

Record: 7-4

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Last Week's Rank: 9

Week Three Recap: The Aggies had a pretty good week going 3-1, with wins over #24 Texas Tech, Rice, and Houston Christian and a loss to #14 Louisville. This team just has a lot of bats that excite me, which is why they moved up a spot despite the ugly loss to Louisville. Although the season hasn't started the way many would have hoped for Texas A&M, I believe it will turn around soon.  

Week Four Opponents: Midweek: Tue Incarnate Word, Wed @Rice. Weekend Series: Northern Kentucky

7. South Carolina Gamecocks (20)

Record: 11-1

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Last Week's Rank: 8

Week Three Recap: South Carolina had a big week as they won their midweek then took two out of three from Clemson. This is a heated rivalry, so it was a big win for the Gamecocks. This was their first real test, so I was glad to see the bats showed up against a quality opponent. This team will win a lot of ball games in SEC play. 

Week Four Opponents: Midweek: Tue The Citadel, Wed SC Upstate. Weekend Series: Bethune-Cookman

6. Arkansas Razorbacks (8)

Record: 9-2

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Last Week's Rank: 6

Week Three Recap: Arkansas went 4-0 on the weekend and scored 40 runs. Pitching did allow 19 runs, so this is something the Hogs would like to see come down. Arkansas is a three-tool team since they can swing it, field it, and pitch it with the best of them. This team will be a serious contender to run all the way to Omaha. 

Week Four Opponents: Midweek: Army. Weekend Series: Louisiana Tech

5. Vanderbilt Commodores (7)

Record: 8-4

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Last Week's Rank: 4

Week Three Recap: Vanderbilt had a good weekend, winning their midweek then going 2-1 in Minneapolis. They lost to Nebraska but were able to knock off #18, Maryland, and Minnesota. They have a terrific leadoff hitter in Enrique Bradfield Jr., who is one of the best players in the SEC. Vandy, per usual, will be one of the teams projected to win the league, and for good reason.

Week Four Opponents: Midweek: Tue Tennessee Tech, Wed Evansville. Weekend Series: LMU

4. Florida Gators (6)

Record: 10-3

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Last Week's Rank: 5

Week Three Recap: Florida's week got off to a rough start after splitting the midweek series with Jacksonville, but it got a lot better when the Gators took two of three from #22 Miami. Florida has an outstanding pitcher named Jac Caglianone, who hits 97mph on the mound and hits bombs at the plate. This young man is in the early running for SEC Player of the Year and has his Gators looking great.  

Week Four Opponents: Midweek Tue/Wed FAU. Weekend Series: Siena

3. Ole Miss Rebels (4)

Record: 10-2

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Last Week's Rank: 3

Week Three Recap: Ole Miss had a great week going 4-1. They split their midweek series with an excellent Louisiana Tech team. There was some controversy with the game that Ole Miss did win against Tech, which is warranted, but rules are rules. Ole Miss then won all three games they played over the weekend, including a win over #18 Maryland. This Ole Miss team has a real chance to repeat as National Champions. 

Week Four Opponents: Midweek: Southern Miss. Weekend Series: Purdue

2. Tennessee Volunteers (3)

Record: 11-2

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Last Week's Rank: 2

Week Three Recap: Tennessee had a great week winning five games and only allowed 16 runs. This Volunteer squad has an outstanding pitching staff and has some great bats to back it. Tennessee is going to be really good again this season and will go toe to toe with LSU for being the potential number-one team in the nation. 

Week Four Opponents: Midweek: Boston College. Weekend Series: Morehead State 

1. LSU Tigers (1)

Record: 10-1

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Last Week's Rank: 1

Week Three Recap: LSU went 4-0 on the week with a midweek victory over Texas. The Tigers had two shutouts and only allowed six runs over the entire week. They also scored 54 runs leading to three blowouts. Paul Skenes has looked great for the Tigers and will continue to be one of the best arms in the SEC. This LSU team looks like a National Championship front-runner after the first few weeks of the season. 

Week Four Opponents: Midweek: Mon Butler, Wed Lamar. Weekend Series: Samford

There are lots of good games in the SEC this week, so we will likely see a lot of movement in next week's rankings. 

If you want to check out last week's SEC baseball power rankings, click here.

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theplainsman.com

 

Auburn completes sweep of Lipscomb at home - The Auburn Plainsman

 

4–5 minutes

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The Auburn Tigers completed their first sweep of the season with a 4-3 victory over Lipscomb at Plainsman Park Sunday. 

A solid pitching effort from the Tigers’ bullpen and more late-game hitting heroics from senior third baseman Bryson Ware helped Auburn improve to a 9-1-1 record.

Ware hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning which eventually became the game winner for the Tigers. Ware recorded a home run in each game of the series, tallying three homers in 13 at-bats, including a game-tying two-run homer in Saturday’s game. 

Ware took note of the changeups thrown by Lipscomb’s reliever, graduate student Noah Thompson. Thompson had retired Auburn’s first two batters in the eighth inning before a double from graduate student Justin Kirby and a walk to freshman Ike Irish extended the inning, allowing Ware to get to the plate. 

“They brought in their closer that had been effective, and I knew he threw a lot of changeups on the at-bats leading up to mine,” Ware said. “I had in the back of my mind that he’s probably going to throw a changeup. He left it up and right over the plate, and I just got enough of it to get it out.”

The third game of the series showcased an effective Tigers pitching lineup. Freshman pitcher Zach Crotchfelt (6.35 ERA) made his first career start for the Tigers, allowing two runs on six hits in four innings pitched. 

Freshman Hayden Murray (2.45 ERA) relieved Crotchfelt in the fifth inning, allowing one run on three hits in 1.2 innings pitched. 

Sophomore Parker Carlson (7.71 ERA) took the mound following Murray in the top of the sixth, and struck out Lipscomb’s leadoff hitter, sophomore Caleb Ketchup, who had homered in the third to put the Bisons up 2-0.

Sophomore pitcher John Armstrong (3.00 ERA) came on in the seventh inning for his second appearance of the weekend and eventually earned the win, his fourth of the season against zero losses in six appearances. Armstrong allowed just one runner to reach base off an error in three innings pitched. 

“I threw quite a bit of pitches Friday, so it was a little different coming back with that many pitches thrown,” Armstrong said. “I wanted to come back so badly and was able to do that. [Anthony Sandersen] in the training room helped me out a bit, and I just gave it everything right there at the end.” 

Auburn’s pitching rotation threw seven strikeouts in the game, while the Tigers’ batsmen recorded six hits in 30 total at-bats. 

Scoring for Auburn also included a fifth inning sacrifice fly from senior catcher Nate LaRue that allowed freshman outfielder Chris Stanfield to score, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Lipscomb’s junior infielder Alec Gonzalez brought the Bisons’ lead back to two with an RBI single that allowed his fellow infielder, redshirt sophomore Parks Bouck, to reach home. This set up the 3-1 Bisons lead erased by Ware’s game-winning home run.   

The Tigers (9-1-1) face the UAB Blazers (4-7) in their next game on Tuesday, March 7 at Plainsman Park. The game begins at 6 p.m. CST and will be streamed live on SEC Network+.

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Jack Fawcett | Sports Writer

Jack Fawcett is a sports production major from San Diego, California. He started with The Plainsman in January 2023.

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Auburn Baseball Notebook: Strong week for Thompson's Tigers

Jason Caldwell

4–5 minutes

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Auburn Baseball

9-1-1

Ranking: No. 13 PerfectGame

Week results:

Auburn 18, Florida A&M 8 (7 innings)

Auburn 7, Lipscomb 3

Auburn 12, Lipscomb 11

Auburn 4, Lipscomb 3

This week’s schedule (All Times Central): 

Tuesday, 6 p.m., UAB

Wednesday, 6 p.m., at Jacksonville State

Friday, 6 p.m., Southeastern Louisiana

Saturday, 2 p.m., Southeastern Louisiana

Sunday, 1 p.m., Southeastern Louisiana

Player of the Week:

There are plenty of options, but it has to be Bryson Ware for the week he put together. Batting .400 (6-15) the senior smacked three home runs, two doubles and eight RBI. Included in those three home runs were a two-run shot that tied the game on Saturday and a three-run homer that proved to be the game winner. For the season Ware is batting .513 with six home runs, six doubles and 17 runs batted in.

Pitcher of the Week:

Tommy Vail was really good in his first start for the Tigers, not giving up a hit and striking out six in four innings against FAMU on Tuesday night, but the star of the show was reliever John Armstrong. Going 2-0  for the week, Armstrong allowed one run in five and one/third innings and struck out six while not walking a single batter. Opponents batted just .105 against him in two appearances.

Newcomer of the Week:

Getting his first career starts with the hamstring strain to Bobby Peirce, true freshman outfielder Chris Stanfield batted .463 (6-13) for the week to lead the team and scored four runs while adding a double and a triple. 

Injury updates:

Auburn was without Peirce last week while recovering from the muscle strain suffered the previous weekend, but the good news is that he’s closer to being back on the field for the Tigers. He hasn’t stopped swinging the bat and has continued to get his hacks in the cage so he should be able to get back in the groove pretty quickly if he returns to action this week.

The news isn’t as good for first baseman Cooper McMurray. Rolling his ankle on a play at first base during Saturday’s game, the Kansas transfer has been in a boot the last two days and his status for this week is uncertain. The good news is that there was no break, so it’s a matter of the swelling going down to see how he responds.

Maybe the biggest news is on junior right-handed pitcher Joseph Gonzalez. He has been cleared to throw and is expected to get back on the mound Tuesday. With Auburn wanting to get at least two bullpen appearances with him before getting back in a game, it’s doubtful he pitches this week. That would mean his next appearance could be at Arkansas in the SEC opener in two weeks.

LaRue’s value shows up

He has struggled at the plate this season, but there is no debating the importance of Auburn senior catcher Nate LaRue to this team. That was on display this weekend against Lipscomb in the three-game series against a powerful Bisons lineup. With the Mobile native behind the dish, Auburn pitching allowed just seven runs in 23 innings. Without him in the game, the Tigers gave up nine runs in four innings. 

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“It’s a difference-maker for sure,” Auburn reliever John Armstrong said of LaRue. “He’s got a really good connection with me. I think a lot of the other guys do, too. I feel like catcher is the most offensive position on the field. Him doing what he’s doing behind the plate is all that we can really ask for.”

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