April 19, 2011

Halfway Home For Auburn Baseball

Well hasn't it been the rollercoaster ride for Tiger baseball through the first half of the conference schedule? Last month we sat here and Auburn had won four of five including two of three from Arkansas in the conference opener. Then out of nowhere, Auburn dropped eight of nine including losing six straight in SEC play.

The question is what happened? I'm not sure there is a definitive answer, but I do know what happened to get this team back on track and now winners of five out of their last six.

It all started to turn at practice Wednesday, March 30...the day after an embarrassing defeat in Troy where Auburn trailed at one point 12-1. The players and coaches both made note of how hard they worked on that Wednesday afternoon. That carried over to practice Thursday night in Lexington and culminated with a players only meeting that same night at the team hotel. I have no idea what was said, who said or how it was said, but this has been a different team ever since.

The day after the team meeting Auburn defeated Kentucky 12-9...since then the Tigers have outscored the opposition 48 – 30. The pitching staff has become more mentally tough getting out of jams without giving in. The Tigers offensive attack has become dangerous one through nine in the order and they have been good in the clutch.

The result...a 7-8 conference record, just one game behind where they were a year ago. Auburn is now just one game behind first place in the SEC West which is occupied now by three teams at 8-7. The good news is this...Auburn already has the tiebreaker on one of those teams (Arkansas) and they get the other two at home starting with Ole Miss this week and then Alabama in three weeks.

There is so much baseball to be played its way too early to start making predictions, but you have to like where the Tigers are headed. With a top 15 RPI and a strength of schedule that is the top five nationally, coach Pawlowski seems to have his guys tracking for another post-season appearance.

Reminder About Ole Miss Series

Don't forget this weeks' SEC series against Ole Miss at Plainsman Park is a Thursday through Saturday series. This is due to ESPN's expanded coverage of SEC baseball this season. Each week for the remainder of the regular season, there will be a Thursday night game of the week. Thursday night's game will be televised by ESPNU and starts at 6:30 pm central.

Of course, you can also listen to all three games on the Auburn Sports Network. Airtimes for the weekend are 6:15 p.m. CT Thursday, 5:45 p.m. CT Friday, and 11:45 a.m. CT Saturday. I'm looking forward to the added exposure, but I'm also looking forward to having Easter Sunday off!

I hope to see huge crowds for all three games of what could turn into a battle for first place in the West.

Congratulations to the Champions

Before I wrap things up, a big congratulations goes out to the Auburn Equestrian and Women's Golf teams. Both had championship weekends last week.

Coach Greg Williams took his squad out to Waco, Texas and Baylor University where they won the Hunt Seat national title and the overall National title with a great run. Auburn finishes the season with three championship titles, as the team defeated conference foe Georgia for the SEC championship to go along with the two titles won in Waco.

Also, what a great job by coach Kim Evans as she had her team ready to go this past weekend as the Tigers hosted the SEC Women's Golf Championships. The Tigers led wire to wire and won the tournament by eleven strokes over Alabama.

For Auburn, the SEC team title is its eighth overall, the seventh for head coach Kim Evans and the team's second in the last three years. The Tigers are now tied with Georgia with eight SEC titles, trailing only Florida with 11. The trio of teams have combined to win 27 of the 31 SEC women's golf championships.

Until next time, War Eagle, and so long everybody!

Rod Report Archive