Everything Butch Thompson said ahead of Auburn's Opening Series against Indiana
AUBURN — The time has come for Auburn baseball to kickstart their season.
After an entire fall semester of preparation, this team full of new talent is ready.
Auburn will open up their season at home tomorrow at 4 p.m. CT for the first of three games against Indiana. Saturday’s first pitch is set for 2 p.m. CT and Sunday’s is set for 1 p.m. CT.
Head coach Butch Thompson told the media on Thursday afternoon how excited he was to begin the season. “Last Thursday, we really started playing some good, consistent baseball.”
Once this first weekend ends, the Tigers will have one day for cleanups before their first midweek matchup against North Alabama at 6 p.m. on Tuesday night. They’ll then travel to Los Angeles for their first away series at the University of Southern California next weekend.
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Here is everything that Butch Thompson said ahead of the weekend on Thursday afternoon:
— Thompson opened by referring to these past few months as “driving cattle” with all of the new people on this roster. “I’m excited about the season and for our players to play somebody else. The guess work goes away tomorrow. We’ll know more come next Monday than we’ve known for months (about) who we are.”
— When it comes to preseason polls, Thompson has seen Auburn ranked “anywhere between 17 and 300” and he “thinks that’s fair.”
— Thompson says the Indiana matchup will be a good one. They’ve got seven of their nine position players returning. “They have real power. They have an 18 home run guy, a 19 home run guy. They’ve got somebody who can steal a base if you’re not aware of the run game…”
— “I like our lineup, I like the ‘length’ potential of our lineup.” – Thompson talked about potentially putting Bobby Peirce, who is more of a three hole hitter, at lead-off. “What does that lineup look like? I’m excited about it, but until it really goes out there against someone else, it’s hard to know.”
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— Tanner Bauman has “actually thrown the baseball the best,” even though he will not start this weekend. Thompson is still deciding the best opportunity to have the best guys to throw and that may not be starting.
— Joseph Gonzalez is the “closest thing to a diesel engine” on this roster right now. Thompson expects him to have a strong season. He’s only thrown one squad game since January, though, so they’re not pushing him to stay on the mound for more than a few innings at the moment.
— Thompson hopes that his start this weekend gives Chase Allsup a “boost of confidence.” Auburn has been wanting him to be a starter since he arrived on campus.
— Talked about the importance of RPI this season and this being a main reason that Auburn is traveling to USC so early on. “There’s more value right now in RPI situations, the program has built (itself) up and we’re positioning something…”
