re: Preview: LSU vs Auburn – Thu 6 (No TV) | Fri 6 (No TV) | Sat 1 (FSN)

Thursday's Pitching Matchup:
LSU - Fr. LHP Jared Poché (7-3, 2.55 ERA, 70.2 IP, 56 H, 20 ER, 23 BB, 43 K, .224 OBA, 1.12 WHIP)
AU - Sr. RHP Dillon Orton (9-3, 2.01 ERA, 94.0 IP, 81 H, 21 ER, 15 BB, 58 K, .229 OBA, 1.02 WHIP)

Friday's Pitching Matchup:
LSU - Jr. RHP Aaron Nola (8-1, 1.43 ERA, 94.2 IP, 55 H, 15 ER, 22 BB, 111 K, .169 OBA, 0.81 WHIP)
AU - Sr. LHP Michael O’Neal (3-5, 3.82 ERA, 68.1 IP, 71 H, 29 ER, 27 BB, 27 K, .277 OBA, 1.43 WHIP)

Saturday's Pitching Matchup: TBA


Relief Pitching:
Nearly 27% of the runs Auburn has allowed this year have come in the 8th inning or later and the Tigers have been outscored 53-17 in those innings. Not many of the team’s 28 wins have come from the relief pitching. Jay Wade leads the Auburn bullpen with 22 appearances and 4 victories in relief. He is one of just a few relievers that have been dependable for the Tigers on the back end with his bullpen best 1.04 WHIP. Terrance Dedrick leads the team with 4 saves, but he has allowed 32 hits and a very high 15 walks in 25 innings. There is only 1 left handed pitcher on this Auburn team aside from O’Neal and that is Junior Daniel Koger. He has been a starter in 26 games of his career but has spent most of this season being called out from the practice dirt. Despite being a southpaw, leftys hit for .348 while right handers hit just .204 against Koger.

Top Bullpen Arms:
Sr. RHP Jay Wade (22 app, 4-2, 1 save, 3.28 ERA, 35.2 IP, 31 H, 13 ER, 6 BB, 24 K, .235 OBA, 1.04 WHIP)
Jr. RHP Jacob Milliman (10 app, 0-0, 2.19 ERA, 12.1 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 6 BB, 11 K, .205 OBA, 1.21 WHIP)
So. RHP Trey Wingenter (12 app, 1-1, 2.38 ERA, 22.2 IP, 28 H, 6 ER, 8 BB, 22 K, .298 OBA, 1.59 WHIP)
Jr. RHP Trey Cochran-Gill (27 app, 0-2, 1 save, 3.58 ERA, 32.2 IP, 40 H, 13 ER, 9 BB, 20 K, .315 OBA, 1.50 WHIP)
Jr. LHP Daniel Koger (13 app, 2-0, 3.92 ERA, 20.2 IP, 19 H, 9 ER, 8 BB, 16 K, .247 OBA, 1.31 WHIP)
Sr. RHP Terrance Dedrick (22 app, 2-3, 4 saves, 5.04 ERA, 25.0 IP, 32 H, 14 ER, 15 BB, 19 K, .323 OBA, 1.88 WHIP)

Auburn Offense: (LSU numbers in parentheses)
Team BA: .274 (.278)
Team OBP: .366 (.363)
Team SLG: .344 (.400)

The Auburn position players are a mixed age group starting 4 freshman and 4 seniors, but standing out among the ranks is sophomore Jordan Ebert. His .356 batting average is 2nd best in the SEC. Damek Tomscha leads the team in home runs with 5, and his .452 on base percentage is 2nd only to A.J. Reed in the SEC. Tomscha and Damon Haecker have combined for 59 walks on the season. Haecker is a switch-hitting freshman shortstop and is the only player has started all 53 games for the Tigers. Senior leader Ryan Tella has not let down in his final year after a disappointing junior campaign hitting .310 and 3 home runs and 13 stolen bases.

On the bases, no team in the SEC runs more than the Auburn Tigers. Five different Auburn players have attempted 15 or more stolen bases, compared to LSU which has only 1 at that mark. Dan Glevenyak leads the group with 14 swiped bases in 16 tries. On the negative side of that aggressiveness, Auburn has been caught stealing more than any other team in the league.


Auburn Projected Lineup:
1) RF Anfernee Grier (.257 avg, 7 2B, 10 RBI, 14 R, 12 BB, 20 K, 7-15 SB)
2) SS Damon Haecker (.258 avg, 4 2B, 17 RBI, 23 R, 33 BB, 31 K, 10-17 SB)
3) C Blake Austin (.267 avg, 10 2B, 3 HR, 30 RBI, 19 R, 15 BB, 27 K, 4-8 SB)
4) DH Daniel Robert (.281 avg, 5 2B, 3B, HR, 12 RBI, 12 R, 17 BB, 23 K, 1-2 SB)
5) 1B Damek Tomscha (.325 avg, 8 2B, 5 HR, 28 RBI, 37 R, 26 BB, 20 K, 4-5 SB)
6) CF Ryan Tella (.310 avg, 6 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 18 RBI, 30 R, 14 BB, 23 K, 13-18 SB)
7) LF Jordan Ebert (.356 avg, 5 2B, 3B, 28 RBI, 28 R, 12 BB, 24 K, 9-15 SB)
8) 2B Dan Glevenyak (.248 avg, 5 2B, 3 3B, HR, 16 RBI, 21 R, 18 BB, 20 K, 14-16 SB)
9) 3B Connor Short (.222 avg, 2B, 8 RBI, 6 R, 7 BB, 12 K, 9-10 SB)

Other Contributors:
C Blake Logan (.282 avg, 3 2B, HR, 17 RBI, 9 R, 10 BB, 13 K, 0-0 SB)
INF Brett Binning (.348 avg, 2 RBI, 5 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 1-1 SB)
OF Sam Gillikin (.224 avg, 5 2B, 4 RBI, 5 R, 6 BB, 11 K, 0-1 SB)

Defense:
Auburn’s season defensively is an anomaly in that most of their errors came in the OCC schedule rather than SEC play. This defense has committed just 20 errors in the 27 conference games while committing 40 errors in 26 games outside of the league. Their SEC fielding percentage of .980 is tops in the league and the overall .971 FLD% is 11th. Middle infielders Damon Haecker and Dan Glevenyak combine for 21 errors on the year, but the team’s 50 double plays are the 2nd most turned in the SEC. Although stealing the 3rd fewest bags in the conference, LSU may choose to be more aggressive on the bases than in previous games. Main catcher Blake Austin throws out less than 29% of attempting base stealers. Tyler Moore is scheduled to catch for LSU also throws out just under 29% of stealers, which could come into play with Auburn’s aggressive style of base running.

Season Stats
Roster
Schedule (via Warren Nolan)

Media Coverage:
TV: Saturday only – FSN
Online: Saturday only - espn3.com and the watchESPN app with blackout restrictions in effect
Radio: 98.1 FM (check your local listings) all 3 games; audio always available through the GeauxZone


PREDICTION: This is definitely crunch time for both teams as it is for most teams across the country. Does LSU use Tuesday’s record performance to springboard into a postseason run? Does Auburn break out at home against a top ranked team to earn a spot in the SEC tournament? If you ask me, Thursday night will determine everything. Ortman vs Poché. If LSU can come away with this one, I think it leads to the first road sweep of the season. Either way, Nola is as close to a lock as it gets on Friday night against O’Neal, and I think game 3 will be a matter of a thin bullpen for Auburn. The LSU bats will show up on Friday and Saturday for a series win. The sweep? Well let’s see what happens just 46 hours after putting on a hitting display not seen in many years. I think we get to the bullpen early enough to make an impact and get that much needed sweep, then… we scoreboard watch in the West.
Thu: LSU 4, Auburn 3
Fri: LSU 6, Auburn 0
Sat: LSU 8, Auburn 4