Baseball Fall Practice To Start On Wednesday - AuburnTigers.com - Auburn University Official Athletic Site

Baseball Fall Practice To Start On Wednesday Fall Practice

John Pawlowski is in his third season at Auburn

Sept. 7, 2010

The Auburn baseball team will begin its fall practice schedule on Wednesday, Sept. 8, at Plainsman Park as the team starts preparations for the 2011 season and a defense of its 2010 SEC Western Division Championship.

Having lost nine players off of last year's team to professional baseball, Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski and his staff will have to infuse a group of 17 newcomers with a talented crop of returnees, which includes three players (Kevin Patterson - 23rd round, Bradley Hendrix - 30th round, Justin Fradejas - 35th round) that turned down the lure of professional baseball after being drafted to play another year at Auburn.

"It is going to be important, especially for our newcomers, to see how they respond in a competitive environment," Pawlowski said. "When we start team practice we will get a lot of opportunities to scrimmage. It is going to be a very competitive fall, maybe one of the most competitive since I have been here. With all of the departures that we had, there are a lot of positions, not only on the mound but also in the field, that are up for grabs."

The fall practice season will conclude with the annual home run derby and an alumni game on Friday, Oct. 22, beginning at 4pm. The day after the home run derby the 2010 SEC Western Division Championship team will be recognized on the field at halftime of the Auburn-LSU football game.

Junior Dan Gamache is the top returning hitter after posting a .365 mark last season with 15 doubles, a triple, eight home runs and 37 RBI. He is followed closely by seniors Fradejas (.358/eight doubles/one triple/three home runs/33 RBI) and Tony Caldwell (.349/eight doubles/10 home runs/41 RBI).

On the mound, senior reliever Sean Ray (2-3, 3.72 ERA) and sophomore Slade Smith (4-0, 4.65 ERA) are the top returning pitchers.

Auburn's spring season begins on Friday, Feb. 18 at 6pm against Arkansas State.

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