AuburnFamilyNews.com: Weekend Review: Tigers Take Do or Die Series From Aggies

Monday, May 17, 2021

Weekend Review: Tigers Take Do or Die Series From Aggies

Texas A&M @ Auburn

  • FRI: 5-4 W
  • SAT: 11-9 L
  • SUN: 8-5 W

It wasn’t by any means pretty. If you would have told me Auburn would commit 4 errors over the weekend, I wouldn’t have liked the Tigers chances against an equally good defensive team in Texas A&M. However, the Aggies committed 6 of their own over the weekend and without question cost themselves the Sunday game, giving up only three earned runs on the day. Luckily for Auburn, they count all the runs and Auburn walked out of Plainsman Park with the happy smiles on their faces. On the whole, it was frustrating at times, it was rewarding at times but in the end, it was successful. That’s all that there really is to say about the weekend. We will dive into the individual particulars later but for now, let’s dive into what will be a very tense Thursday through Saturday in most of the SEC.

Almost nothing is locked into place for the tournament. The only thing for sure are that 9 spots have been taken LSU is pretty much a lock but needs to win a game over A&M this weekend to make that for sure. Kentucky is also in a nice spot with a series win over Auburn, but they play Vanderbilt so that…will be fun. Auburn and Missouri play each other so the winner of that series will be in a good position to make it to Hoover. Meanwhile, Arkansas has pretty much locked up the 1 seed after a series win over Tennessee. The Vols are in a virtual but not really lock with Vandy. While the Dores have Kentucky, the Vols get to go to South Carolina, which will be a really tough series for the Vols. The headline you need to hold on to is this, every series matters this weekend for something, whether its making the tournament, winning the division or getting a better seed.

Just for fun, here is the bracket for the tournament at this moment with the current tiebreakers. The games to the far left are single game elimination. Following that, you enter the double elimination part of the bracket. If I’m Auburn, I hate this draw. Mississippi State was the one team I felt like Auburn never matched up well against this season. The good news is, Florida right now is the 4 seed but that will probably change since the Gators play Arkansas in Fayetteville this weekend. That said, Auburn still needs to win two in CoMo. That’s the goal. Win two in CoMo (or three, that would be cool too).

Pitching Performance of the Weekend

I’m gonna split it up this weekend. First a nod to the guy that held it all together for the win, Carson Skipper. It has been a career of highs and lows for Skipper but if this was his last appearance at Plainsman Park, he ends it on a high note. Making two appearances on the weekend, Skipper went a combined 4.1 innings giving up a run on 3 hits, he hit a batter but struck out seven with (and this is the big one) no walks. For his efforts, Skipper picked up a win and a Sunday Save. The other person to showcase is Joe Gonzalez. The Freshman from Puerto Rico was the setup man for Skipper this weekend and did his job well. Joe went 4.2 innings giving up 2 runs on 3 hits with 3 Ks and a hit batter and, again, no walks. After this season, Joe, along with Carson Swilling and Hayden Mullins who has been shut down this season with an injury, will be the key cogs in the Auburn pitching staff just based on the look of talent alone, at least in my opinion.

Hitting Performance of the Weekend

The Auburn offense had a great weekend, like they have all year. However, I was most impressed by someone who wasn’t scheduled to play at the beginning of the day. In his first and only plate appearance of Sunday, Brody Moore got absolutely beat up. Look down at your left calf. Then grab the muscle on the inside part of that leg. Yeah, Brody fouled one off of there and put him down to one knee. Two pitches later he took one off his wrist and took first base. Moore would come around to score but would be replaced after that by Garrett Farquhar. All Garrett would do from there is go 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. It isn’t a line that will set the world on fire by any means but Garrett was ready to go when called and that says a lot about a guy that was hoping to play a lot more than he did when Brody locked on to 2nd base this season and wouldn’t let go.

ON DECK

Auburn has one last game at home this season against North Alabama before heading to CoMo to take on the Tigers. There won’t be any video coverage of this one, at least right now according to the website, so if you are around Auburn, head to the park and cheer on the guys one last time. First pitch is at 6 pm. We will do a dive in on Missouri Wednesday after the UNA game.



from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2021/5/17/22440095/weekend-review-tigers-take-do-or-die-series-from-aggies

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