Despite entering its matchup against No. 3 South Carolina with just two SEC series victories against Georgia and Mississippi State, Auburn put itself in position to sweep the top-five squad and ultimately won the series.
Prior to that, it had just one victory against a ranked SEC opponent, going 1-5 against No. 4 Florida and No. 6 Arkansas.
Though South Carolina’s infield and top of its batting order was hampered by injuries, the Tigers put up a combined 24 runs, 33 hits and 10 home runs against one of the best bullpens in the country in terms of overall ERA and WHIP.
Three of the home runs came in the first two innings of game three, a game which it went into the fourth with a 5-2 lead before the Gamecocks were able to come back and barely escape the sweep. When asked about facing Auburn, the first thing Jay Johnson mentioned besides the South Carolina win was its batting lineup.
“They’re swinging the bat about as good as anybody,” Johnson said. “Really good lineup, really good top of the order, so we’re going to have to pitch and defend well.”
Its lineup features six players with batting averages above .300, two of which bat above .370 in Ike Irish and Bobby Peirce. Both guys were highlighted by Johnson when discussing the guys within its batting room he was most worried about facing, the latter of which he tried to recruit at Arizona.
“I thought he was key in their emergence to being an Omaha team last year,” Johnson said on Peirce. “Started playing against us last year and had a good series.”
That series saw Auburn take down the Tigers at Alex Box Stadium for the first time since 2011, and while Peirce wasn’t a main contributor within that lineup at that point, he would become the fourth batter within its order by the time it got to the College World Series.
On the pitching side of things, Saturday starter Tommy Vail and reliever Konnor Copeland are two guys to keep an eye on.
Vail leads the team in ERA at 3.80 through 47.1 innings pitched this season and allowed just two runs through five innings against the Gamecocks. And Copeland did an incredible job closing game two of that series out, allowing two runs through the last four innings and ultimately helping Auburn secure its 9-5 victory and more notably, the series.
While this looks to have the potential to be another tough battle for LSU, it’s shown time and time again that it can handle the intensity and get the job done, a huge reason why it currently remains at No. 1. Johnson says no matter what SEC opponent it faces, it heads into every series with the same mentality.
“They’re as prepared as anybody can be,” Johnson said. “From what we put in front of them, it becomes about execution. We don’t really put the opponent in front of them like ‘hey, we’re playing so-and-so, want to make it about us and how we execute?’ and I think that’s the best formula for them to be successful.”
“But again, it’s a returning Omaha team, clear-cut NCAA Tournament team at this point in my eyes. So, it’s going to be a great challenge and one we’re looking forward to.”
The series begins at 6 p.m., with game two taking place at 8 p.m. Saturday and game three taking place at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
