Ladies and gents. We’ve reached the home stretch of baseball season. Four weeks. That’s all that’s left in the season. Auburn baseball has exactly four series left.
This weekend, the Tigers will hit the road and take on one of the very best teams in baseball: the South Carolina Gamecocks. USCjr might be ranked No. 2, but they’re as good as No. 1. They score a lot of runs. And Auburn has a propensity to give them up. This could get ugly.
Let’s talk about it.
South Carolina offense
South Carolina scores runs. And it isn’t just a few guys. Top down, this team gets it done on offense. 374 runs scored on the year is impressive. Even more impressive is that all ten of their primary starters have crossed home at least 20 times. This team is DEEP.
Carolina doesn’t run a ton, but they’re highly successful: 39/43 on stolen base attempts this season. They pick their spots well and attack.
South Carolina defense
Simply put, this is a great defensive team. 1-9, they don’t make many mistakes. 44 errors on 338 fielding opportunities is pretty solid — good for 97% as a team.
South Carolina pitching
This team is, simply put, one of the best pitching teams in the SEC. They don’t let the ball leave the infield a ton, and the ball really doesn’t get put in play that much.
Just four guys on their roster have an ERA of 4 or higher, and just one higher than 5. These guys don’t give up runs.
Auburn baseball preview
With the announcement from Butch Thompson that ace Joseph Gonzales would be out the rest of the season, this pitching staff is gonna have to pull weight the rest of the way. In a season that’s quickly heading for either an early exit in Hoover or an early exit at a regional, that’s gonna be taxing.
Runs are gonna come at a premium against South Carolina. The margin for error is literally razor-thin. They don’t give up runs and put quite a few on the board. Auburn, on the other hand, has been quite the opposite at times.
Series prediction
I normally try to shy away from baseball predictions because of just how many factors can affect a game, but this one feels like Auburn is either gonna shock the college baseball world or get swept and outscored by 30 over the weekend.
Early prediction: South Carolina 2-1
War Eagle