3/10/23 Baseball Articles

[aubiefifty 16,803]

 

[aubiefifty 16,803]

si.com

 

Auburn is set to face a scrappy opponent in Southeastern Louisiana

Andrew Stefaniak

5–6 minutes

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Auburn is set to face a familiar foe as Southeastern Louisiana makes its way to the Plains for a three-game set.

These two ball clubs have met once in history, and it happened to be a year ago in the Auburn Regional in a game that many refer to as the "Cole Foster Game."

Foster hit three homers in this ball game, including two in the same inning from different sides of the plate.

Auburn went on to win this ball game 19-7, sending the Lions to the loser bracket.

Needless to say, Southeastern Louisiana will be coming in with a chip on its shoulder after this blowout loss.

Southeastern Louisiana by the Numbers

The Lions are 9-4 on the season and are currently at the 81st spot in the RPI rankings.

Offensive Numbers

They are batting .279 as a team. SE Louisiana is averaging 10.6 runs a game through 13 ball games. They have stolen 47 bases (!), good for No. 3 in the nation. The Lions lead the nation in hit-by-pitches, as they have been hit 56 times in 13 ball games. They have hit ten home runs as a team, and are top ten in the nation in base on balls, walking 92 times in 13 ball games.

Pitching Numbers

SE Louisiana has a team era of 4.55. They walk around four batters per game. They strike out 8.9 batters per game. Both pretty average numbers.

Lion Players to Remember

The first is pitcher Will Kinzeler. He has started three games for the Lions and only allowed three runs in 17.1 innings of work. Kinzeler has also only allowed seven hits. He only has ten strikeouts on the year so far, meaning he will attack hitters and pitch to contact.

The next is Brennan Stuprich. He has also started three games for SE Louisiana, throwing 16 innings and striking out 20 hitters. His era is a little high, at 5.06, but his stuff is nasty. You will see a mid 90's fastball, a disgusting change-up, and a wipeout slider. I expect this kid to have a good start against the Tigers. 

Lastly is the Lion's center fielder Tyler Finke. He played in the game against the Tigers a season ago, going 1-3 at the plate with an RBI and scored twice. He leads the Lions this season with a .375 batting average. He has four doubles, one home run, and 14 RBI's. Finke has also walked 14 times and been hit by a pitch seven times. His most impressive stat is that he is 15-16 on stolen base attempts this season.

What does this mean for Auburn?

Well, for the hitters, it means they need to be prepared to attack the fastball in early counts against a pitcher like Kinzeler. When it comes to a pitcher like Stuprich, Auburn needs to find his mistake pitch and punish it. When it comes to the rest of the staff, their relievers are a healthy mix of strikeout-heavy pitchers and pitch-to-contact guys. Auburn hitters need to recognize the scouting report to know which type each reliever is, so they know how to approach at-bats.

They don't hit for a ton of power, so let your defense work. But the biggest key for the staff will be to keep these guys off the base paths and fill up the strike zone. As I said earlier, this team loves to go deep into counts, get on base via a walk or hit by pitch, then steal. This is how they win ball games, so you can't let that happen. If the staff fills up the zone and doesn't allow them to play their game, Auburn should be able to easily take care of business. But if you let this team manufacture runs, this series could be tight. 

Projected Starting Lineup/Batting Order

Kason Howell CF

Cole Foster SS

Justin Kirby RF

Ike Irish 1B

Bryson Ware 3B

Bobby Peirce DH

Chris Stanfield LF

Nate LaRue C

Caden Green 2B

Auburn pitching Rotation 

Friday Starter: Tanner Bauman (1-0) 3.60

Saturday Starter: Zach Crotchfelt (0-0) 6.35

Sunday Starter: TBA 

Who could the Sunday starter be? A few guys I could see going in the game would be Chase Allsup (0-0) 3.75 or John Armstrong (4-0) 3.00. Allsup started the first few weekends of the season but was moved back to the pen after a few rough outings. Armstrong has never started a game in his Auburn career, but perhaps this could be the game in an "opener" role. It will be interesting to see who gets the nod, but the coaching staff could wait and see how the weekend is going before naming a starter. I presume whoever starts this game wouldn't go much past four innings, so you can expect to see a lot of Tigers jaunt out of the armbarn on Sunday.

Game Times and Broadcasting Details

Game one of the series on Friday will be played at 6 p.m. ct and will not be televised. You can listen to Andy Burcham and Brad Law on the call via the Auburn Game Day app. 

Both the Saturday and Sunday games will be broadcast on ESPN+. Saturday's games will be played at 2 pm ct, and Sunday's contest will be at 1 pm ct. You can once again listen to these two ball games called by Brad and Andy on the Auburn Game Day app. 

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