After the Auburn Tigers rallied to win 9-8 over Georgia Tech on Tuesday, they have a new challenge in the LSU Tigers in a big SEC baseball series this weekend.
The No. 12 Auburn Tigers (23-10, 6-6) will host the No. 3 LSU Tigers (31-3, 10-2) for a three-game set at Plainsman Park. Auburn is 15-5 at home this season and has won two games in a row. Auburn hopes to capitalize on last weekend's series win over the No. 10 Alabama Crimson Tide by winning another major series over the Bayou Bengals in front of the home crowd.
It is not breaking news, but pitching will play a key role in the series this weekend. That is the case with any baseball series at any level. Here is a look at who Auburn will be throwing this weekend against LSU.
Friday starter: Samuel Dutton
Samuel Dutton will once again be Auburn’s Friday starter to begin a series. He is 4-2 this season and 2-1 in SEC starts. Last Friday in a 10-0 win over Alabama, Dutton pitched seven scoreless innings to shut down the Crimson Tide. He struck out six batters and walked only two. Dutton also allowed just two hits in the win. He played his first three seasons for the LSU Tigers so that will be a storyline to follow.
Saturday starter: Cade Fisher
Cade Fisher will be looking to get his first win of the season on Saturday in game two of the series. His record on the season is 0-0 with seven appearances. He has pitched 20 innings this season with an ERA of 4.43. This is his first season with Auburn after two seasons pitching for the Florida Gators. Fisher took the mound in a 5-6 loss to Alabama in game two of last weekend’s series. He pitched three innings and struck out four batters, but did give up two earned runs. Fisher has 25 strikeouts this season
Sunday starter: TBA
Auburn did not announce a starter for the third game scheduled for Sunday. Last week versus Alabama, Andreas Alverez got the start and pitched 2.2 innings. He gave up three earned runs in the second inning but also had two strikeouts in the game. Griffin Graves entered the game in relief and pitched 2.1 innings and was credited the win in the 7-5 victory. The previous two weekends, Christian Chatterton got the starts versus Georgia and Kentucky but struggled. He left both games before the end of the first inning. In those two starts he gave up a combined seven earned runs and walked five batters.
