Offense Silent as Auburn Baseball Carries 4-game Losing Streak into Oral Roberts Series

The Auburn baseball team (6-7) struggled once again to put any runs on the board in their midweek battle with Georgia Tech on Tuesday losing 4-1.

Now they’ll head into the weekend series against Oral Roberts with a losing record. This will be their last weekend test before SEC play begins, so it’s important that the Tigers get clicking offensively.

Pitching hasn’t really been the issue as the staff has a combined ERA of 3.13, but the Tigers have scored a combined 5 runs during their 4-game losing streak. Butch Thompson is going to have to get creative on offense to give his team a chance to put some runs on the board. We can’t just wait around for the 3-run homer.

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The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles come in with a 6-5 record, and have won three of their last four games. Last year they finished the season with a record of 41-16 and won the Summit League Tournament.

The Golden Eagles are hitting .302 as a team and are averaging 5.6 runs per game on the season. The pitching staff has struggled a bit with an ERA of 4.10 in 98.2 innings with just 64 strikeouts.

Sophomore catcher Matt Whatley is following up a great freshman campaign in which he hit .355 with 5 home runs and 44 RBIs by starting the 2016 season hitting .400 with a home run and 9 RBIs in 45 at-bats. Another sophomore, infielder Nick Roark, is having a good season as well hitting .333 with 3 home runs and 11 RBIs.

On the mound sophomore Bryce Howe has a 3.00 ERA in 18 innings, while senior Nick Wood has a 1.76 ERA in 15.1 innings. Last year Howe was 4-2 with a 3.93 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 55 innings as a freshman.

The Golden Eagles are a very young team, but also a very talented team. The Tigers will need to play their best baseball of the season if they’re to come away with a much need sweep this weekend.

The guys at the top of the lineup like Anfernee Grier, Jordan Ebert and Niko Buentello have been getting on base, but the bottom of Auburn’s lineup has failed to capitalize on those opportunities as of late.

Grier is hitting .460 and has a .578 on-base-percentage, while leading the team with 19 runs scored and 11 stolen bases. Buentello is hitting .314 with a team-high 3 home runs and 23 RBIs.

Guys like Melvin Gray and Damon Haecker really need to pick up the slack for Auburn at the bottom of the lineup to get this offense going, and I believe that will happen this weekend.

The pitching staff is really shaping up to be a great one. Justin Camp has been solid all season and boasts a 2.21 ERA in a team-high 20.1 innings with 19 strikeouts. Cole Lipscomb made his return to the starting rotation this past Sunday and struck out eight batters in 6.2 innings, while only allowing 2 hits. Casey Mize also struck out eight in his last start and now has a 1.53 ERA on the year.

I think coach Thompson is still trying to figure out who he can trust out of his bullpen, but he has to be happy with the way the starting pitching has performed thus far. Now we just need the offense to start picking up the slack.

Weekend Schedule – Auburn (6-7) vs Oral Roberts (6-5):

Friday – 3 p.m. CT – Plainsman Park (L, 8-7)

Probable Starters: Bryce Howe (1-0, 3.00 ERA, 9 Ks) vs. Justin Camp (1-0, 2.21 ERA, 19 Ks)

Saturday – 2 p.m. CT – Plainsman Park – SEC Network+

Probable Starters: Logan Michaels (0-1, 4.32 ERA, 6 Ks) vs. Casey Mize (0-1, 1.53 ERA, 14 Ks)

Sunday – 1 p.m. CT – Plainsman Park – SEC Network+

Probable Starters: Taylor Varnell (1-0, 3.27 ERA, 10 Ks) vs Cole Lipscomb (1-1, 2.63 ERA, 12 Ks)

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