No. 5 Auburn is set to play against No. 22 Alabama in a three-game baseball series beginning Friday, Mar. 26, as the Tigers look to recover from their first home series loss in nearly two years.
The matchup holds significance for both teams as they compete for position within the Southeastern Conference and continue a long-standing rivalry. The games will take place at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa, with first pitches scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 7 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Head coach Butch Thompson said, “Hard is great. When you get to do it against your rival, that’s living.” He continued, “This will wind up being some of the best days of their life is how I’m trying to build up. To go play against your rival and to do it when all you have is your team on the road. We have so much to play for, and we have so much more potential to reach. We’re chasing growth, competing against our rival on the road, trying to stay in the moment, and we’re trying to keep our best spirit because we’re all we’ve got this weekend. It’ll be a blast.”
Auburn enters the series with a record of 20-4 overall and 4-2 in SEC play. The Tigers’ starting pitchers have combined for a record of 13-3 with an earned run average of 2.08 over 130 innings this season.
Alabama comes into the weekend holding a record of 19-7 overall and an even mark in conference games after sweeping Florida last week for the first time since 2002. Senior utility player Brady Neal leads Alabama offensively with a .366 batting average and was named SEC Player of the Week following his performance versus Florida.
Looking ahead, Auburn aims to win back-to-back SEC road series for the first time since last year while also seeking further growth during this challenging stretch against ranked opponents.
