Auburn faces Ole Miss this weekend in winner-takes-West battle

Auburn will face the Ole Miss Rebels this weekend in a series that will determine the winner of the SEC West. Needless to say, Auburn hasn't had a series of this magnitude in many years and it will be interesting to see how they respond.

Cory Luckie will get the start against Ole Miss all-star Drew Pomeranz on Friday night and will have a tall task. After seeing Pomeranz pitch in person earlier this year I can tell you that he is the real deal. After Friday night, coach John Pawlowski will have to make a decision on the rest of the rotation as it has not been decided yet.

If Auburn loses Friday, he may look to Grant Dayton on Saturday. Dayton has cemented himself as the most consistent pitcher on the staff this year in SEC play while primarily pitching on Sunday.

Either way it'll be quite a battle between the Tigers and Rebels in Oxford this weekend. With a spot in Hoover already cemented, we'll see how far this squad wants to go. With a potential regional host bid on the line, hopefully they want to go a long way.

War Eagle!

Auburn takes Game 3 from Bama

So Auburn won 7-1 today in Game 3 of the Iron Bowl of baseball series, at least avoiding the sweep. The win gives Auburn a game up on Bama in the standings, and leaves us only 2 games back of LSU as they prepare to come into town next weekend.

Grant Dayton was awesome on the mound today, picking up the win and pitching into the 8th inning and giving up just one run. One of the things that pleases me the most was what he did to Alabama leadoff hitter Taylor Dugas.

Dugas came into the 8th with three singles, and Dayton promptly hit him, and he was ejected along with Coach Pawlowski. For a team that came into the game scuffling big time and looking to avoid a sweep, I love seeing this kind of fire out of the players and coaching staff.

Of course nothing makes me happier than seeing Bama suffer, and this is certainly no exception. But the fact that Coach P and Dayton were willing to send a message and say they weren't backing down from the one hitter who was having a good day says a lot to me. Some will say it's dirty baseball to do something like that, but I would just say quit being gay. It's awesome.

If Auburn baseball is ever going to be able to move past the lowly status it has occupied for the past 7 years, it's going to take players and coaches that aren't willing to back down against anyone. Not only that, but the players and coaches have to let people know that this isn't the same program that's going to roll over and die as soon as things start going bad.

It sucks I have to say this, but winning the Sunday game when facing a sweep the past two weekends is very important, especially coming against two ranked teams. Auburn has had it's chances in the 4 games it has lost over the past two SEC weekends, so if they can figure out a way to get Cole Nelson some run support and get that Friday night starter figured out, this could turn out to be a very good year.

But Auburn has to move past winning just Sunday and start winning some series' for Pete's sake. I'm not sure what kind of suspension Pawlowski and Dayton will face, but let's just hope Dayton can go next weekend. Whatever the penalty is, it's worth it to show people this is a program they have to take seriously.

War Eagle!!

Bama beats Auburn, 10-5 in Friday night game

Auburn took a 1-0 lead last night, before giving up a 5-run inning that included 6 hits and 2 errors. Awful. Terrible. Inexcusable.

Never in my life have I seen a baseball team that has as much trouble fielding the ball and throwing people out*.

Anyway, Cole Nelson goes today for Auburn and if they can't scratch out a win with him on the mound, things aren't looking good for winning a game this series. Of course, Alabama's pitcher, also a Nelson, has a 1-something ERA, so that's just great.

We'll see how it goes. Check Twitter for updates.

*With the exception of my 9th grade junior varsity baseball team. Defense was not one of our strong suits.

Happy April Fool's Day/Baseball Update

A common image for Auburn baseball of the modern era. (Photo Credit OA News.)

It's April Fool's Day which I'm pretty sure isn't a real holiday or anything, I guess just made up to play awesome pranks on your stupid friends. But you can do that all year.

Auburn baseball is nearing the halfway point of the season, and guess what, it's been another up and down year for the Tigers. Currently their record sits at 17-8, 4-2 in the SEC. Last night they had a chance to boost that win total against a Trojan squad that entered with just a 12-11 record.

After a series loss to South Carolina last weekend and another big series looming at Alabama this weekend, this game actually may have been bigger than it seemed for John Pawlowski's team. And like Auburn baseball has done for the past 7 years, they underwhelmed. Big time.

An error by Dan Gamache allowed the last two runs to score and let Troy take a 5-4 lead that would hold up in the end. Troy's final three runs were all unearned. What is that???

Granted I haven't been to a ton of Auburn baseball games this year, but I just don't know if Gamache is going to get it done at 3rd base. In the first game of the USC series, I saw him boot a couple of key balls on plays that an infielder should be making.

Auburn had lowered it's ERA after a pretty decent pitching performance this past weekend, but still ranked 9th in the SEC heading into last night. They also rank 1st in batting average, HR's, and total bases.

This year's team appears to be shaping up very much like last year's. Decent start, hot hitting throughout, but suffers a late slide due to shaky defense and a terrible bullpen.

I don't know what they can do this year, besides try to continue to build depth and get a number of quality arms into the pitching rotation. For someone who's paid as much attention to this baseball program as I have since I started at Auburn in 2004, this is incredibly frustrating.

We'll see how things shake out this weekend in Tuscaloosa and returning home the next weekend to face LSU in Auburn. A series win in both of these matchups would be monumental for this team. Here's hoping.

Did Auburn Meet Its Needs On National Signing Day 2010?

There may be a lot more of this in Auburn's future.

It's been two weeks since National Signing Day 2010 went down, and football fans are settling down for the long haul through spring practice and summer, until the season begins in the fall.

Without a doubt, all Auburn fans know that their 2010 class was not only a good class, it may turn out to be a great one. Perhaps since the ranking of recruits became a business, the Tigers finished with a consensus top-5 class according to all of these services. Players like Cameron Newton, Michael Dyer, and Shon Coleman helped catapult Auburn to quickly become one of the big dogs in the recruiting world.

But was this the best class in Auburn history? Yes. Auburn fans shouldn't be shy about the fact that this class has more promise than any they have ever signed. There are athletes across the board, and talent is coming at positions of dire need. This class will significantly raise the expectations of Auburn fans for the coming years, and it should. No program that considers itself of championship caliber should ever expect mediocrity to be accepted.

Perhaps the biggest coup for Gene Chizik and his staff was landing the best offensive line class in the entire country. The old cliche that "the big uglies up front win the game" isn't actually a cliche. Or can a cliche be true? I'm not really sure. Either way, just look at Alabama's line the past two years, and you'll see where a lot of that success comes from.

Shon Coleman and Roszell Gayden are the headliners of the O-line class, and have an opportunity to anchor Auburn at both of the tackle positions over the next couple years. While Coleman may not be the starter next year, he will have a great chance to groom himself under Lee Ziemba in 2010.

At RB, Michael Dyer will have some big shoes to fill, with 1,300 yard rusher Ben Tate leaving after graduation. He will have help, as Onterio McCalebb, Mario Fannin, Dontae Aycock, and Eric Smith should be able to spell him if he is not ready. Having Marcus Lattimore would have been nice, but it is not by any means a backbreaker by Auburn losing him.

Wide receiver had another nice haul, as it probably always will as long as Trooper Taylor is on the Plains. Antonio Goodwin and Trovon Reed will instantly give Auburn downfield threats, as well as hopefully solving that awful punt return situation from last year. These guys are burners, and playmakers in every sense of the word if they back-up their legend built in high school.

Jeremy Richardson will almost certainly not qualify, but if he comes back in a couple years, could come into Auburn more seasoned and ready. Shaun Kitchens is a guy that Coach Taylor has raved about, and the big bodied kid from College Park could give Auburn a great size threat in the end zone.

Combine these guys with top returners Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachery, and Auburn will have a legitimate big-time passing game next year.

The entire defense was a position of need with this class. There was attrition at almost every position, particularly at linebacker, and a secondary that became worse as it was crippled by injury before and during the season.

The linebacker class of LaDarius Owens, Jake Holland, Jawara White, and Jessel Curry was huge, and may be another example of Auburn bringing in the top group in America.

In the secondary, another huge area of need, Auburn signed a very respectable group of Jonathon Mincy, Demetruce McNeal, Chris Davis, plus the Ryans (Smith and White). This may not be the most highly rated or polished group in the world, but simply putting bodies out there will help Auburn next year. If Zac Etheridge, Mike McNeil, and Aairon Savage return as predicted, the secondary may suddenly become one of the most seasoned units in the league.

The defensive line was an area that turned out to be extremely interesting as far as recruiting. Auburn will have some depth back, but definitely has some needs, especially for playmakers on the edge.

The defensive end class was already solid in Joel Bonomolo and Craig Sanders, but the addition of Corey Lemonier was huge on NSD. All of these guys are extremely talented, and will help make Tracy Rocker's job much easier.

On the inside, Kenneth Carter and Jeffrey Whitaker will try to remind some fans of Rocker himself.

Overall, the defensive line, while not Auburn's biggest position of need, may have brought in the best group of all. Some players will take a few years to be physically ready for the SEC, but all have huge upside and potential.

So that's it for 2010. Auburn missed on a few, but hit on most of the ones they really wanted, and even stole one from Alabama. When it really comes down to it, nothing can make up for the joy that comes from that.

Like I said earlier, all this really does is make Gene Chizik's job harder. Fans and media alike will expect a lot more, and Chizik must deliver. Recruiting success only goes so far, and there is nothing that makes up for success on the football field.

Call me bold, but I'll make a little prediction. Look for the SEC West race to come down to a little game in November called the Iron Bowl. After going toe to toe in the recruiting world, Auburn and Alabama will play in November for a chance at a real championship, the kind that are won in Atlanta.

War Eagle!

Where in the world is Marcus Lattimore?

Running back prospect Marcus Lattimore has been under a self-imposed hood of silence for over a week now and there has been rampant speculation about where that wonderful mustache will be playing next year.

Up until about two days ago, it looked like ML was going to head to the Plains, and the Auburn pundits seemed to agree. Now they're looking at it as basically a toss up, and one that it looks like we are going to lose.

Not to worry friends, the backfield of Fannin, Aycock, Dyer, and McCalebb should do just fine next year, and will get a chance to make Lattimore pay in October, should he choose the Gamecocks.

Here's hoping against hope that he doesn't choose them, and can join coach Curtis Luper in the Auburn facial hair Hall of Fame.

War Eagle!!

Recruiting Battles Part 2

As with everything this last couple weeks last night, everything is more speculation. But at least last night was positive speculation.

One site I regularly read suggested that a source has claimed Marcus Lattimore is leaning heavily to Auburn. The same site said that Shon Coleman has emerged from his Alabama visit not wearing any hounds-tooth, so he appears to still be relatively solid to Auburn.

The same confidence is still coming from the South Carolina side regarding Lattimore, so I'd have to believe this one is really as much of a toss up as ever.

Arkansas DT Byran Jones may announce today, or may wait until Monday. He is definitely a toss up, but based simply on recruiting this year, hopefully knows how much more successful he can be at Auburn.

DT Jeffrey Whitaker will announce Monday.

All I know is this stuff is going to give me a heart condition. I need to lay off the recruiting for awhile.